Mind Games
by spoonerdog123
Summary: When Mioda gains the ability to brainwash anyone she pleases, and Koizumi ends up with the ability to read minds and somehow un-brainwash people at the same time, both of them try to use their abilities for peace. Needless to say, pseudo-Sue soon turns on pseudo-Sue, and all hell breaks loose on Jabberwock Island. Mioda/Hajime and Mioda/Koizumi explored.
1. Prologue: Trouble In Paradise

The book landed in front of her with a heavy _thud_ on the white beach sand. Picking it up, the photographer looked first left, then right, then up, then back down at the item. There didn't seem to be anyone around to have thrown or dropped it; that made her frown. There wasn't any convenient overhang or tree branch for it to have fallen from, either - that made her frown even more.

It had, then, appeared straight of thin air.

Since she was a very logical girl, Mahiru Koizumi tried not to think about that aspect of things too much, though she definitely scowled as she studied the book. It was a battered, black wreck of a thing; tattered and torn. The title was unreadable; half the pages threatening to fall from the rotting binding when she opened it up. However, the only thing that _did_ actually drift to the sand was a clean white note that had been placed just inside the cover. Curious, Koizumi picked it up, flipping it over to scowl at the scribble on the reverse of the note:

_If you want to save their lives, read this._

_– A Friend_

She raised an eyebrow at that, glancing about herself once more before turning her attention back to the book. She _hated _to think in such a hopeless fashion, but it was surely only a matter of time before their little group had a death on their hands. For now, things were peaceful, but Koizumi wasn't stupid. She'd taken enough photos to know that there were tensions bubbling under the smiles in the photographs of those stranded on this island – Hinata's strained expression, Togami's cold gaze, the tears forever welling in Tsumiki's eyes, the way Souda stood so casually that it all went the other way and became extraordinarily tense. Soon, soon, though she didn't want to admit it, someone would die, and there would be nothing she could do about. Perhaps _she _would be the first person to go; she was certainly in a good place to be killed – the pushy girl not even Sonia appreciated, all alone on a beach in the middle of nowhere.

_Unless this book can seriously save lives..._

She'd never heard of such a thing, the note was most definitely a lie – and yet, she was curious. Koizumi gave the book one last, doubtful look, before turning to the first page. It wasn't in a language she could understand; it looked something like French or German, English letters arranged to make words she didn't get at all. With a snort, the redhead flipped though, wondering if perhaps this book had a translation in the back, but only gibberish greeted her – different symbols, different handwriting, but all the same level of nonsense. How was she supposed to read any of this? Maybe she should take it to Sonia, this could be a valuable clue of some sort–

Her fingers brushed across the last page, and quite suddenly _the book was on fire_. It took a moment for the significance of that to sink in – but when it did, the photographer dropped it with thoroughly undignified noise.

Or at least, she _tried _to.

Dropping the book, as it turned out, was impossible. She jumped back and let go of it, yes, but the damned thing didn't _fall_; just hovered in the air, blue and green flames licking up its sides. Koizumi could feel the heat, and she was so very surprised by it that she tripped over her own feet on her landing, and ended up sprawled in the sand in front of it. One by one, its pages were flicking backwards – and maybe it was her imagination, but in those terrifying moments, Koizumi could recognize every blue–tinged word that flew by. It was an instruction manual of some sort, but not a _sensible_ sort – she caught one too many references to _mind–reading_, and –

_Wait, was that my name–?!_

But how the text had apparently changed to something intelligible, how the thing was on fire and floating, and how the book _knew_ who had just touched it were not things the photographer could think about right now. Escape was all that she could consider – she absolutely _had_ to get away from the book, before something worse happened. She didn't exactly know _what _that was, but again – not something she could think about. Glancing over her shoulder towards the waves, Koizumi slowly began to back away, towards the sea. Perhaps, her panicked mind reasoned, she could put out the flames if she managed to make it there.

It took a few seconds for her to realize it, but the thing was _following_ her, floating along with those pages flicking backwards one by one. It had made it halfway through the book now, and she could have sworn that the enormous flames weren't red and purple when the whole mess had started. She really, _really _didn't want to think about what would happen if it made it to the start of the book. One step, two, the soothing sound of the sea becoming ever louder, the familiar softness of wet sand against her shoes. She was almost there, just one more step, just one more–

The rest of the pages fell to the ground in a smoldering heap, leaving only a miniature fireball floating in the air. The sea seemed to hold its breath with Koizumi in those two seconds of awkward silence – and then the thing lunged for her and she was stumbling back with a word I really, _really_ can't print here. There was a light bright enough to qualify for a blank Word document, a white–hot pain in her chest and cool water against her back. She should have heard a splash as she dell flat on her back in the shallows, surely, but all Koizumi could hear was a terrifying screeching, louder than the worst of Mioda's guitar playing – wait, no, that was her own voice–!

And all was quiet.

* * *

><p><strong>Author Notes:<strong>

Okay, so some stuff about this thing. I'm not going to say anything much in later chapters, so here's everything you don't need to know, plus extra warnings for what's going down!

- The fic has actually been worked on for two months, so there's a fair amount of content already written. Update rate should be consistent for at least a while.

- I promise, I do have a mechanic for brainwashing, and I do have a mechanic for mind-reading. It's kind of incredible how long they took to plan out so that they can perfectly balance each other, actually. I really don't know how real Sue-writers manage to plan all those intricate powers out; must be a nightmare.

- Murders will happen, and there will be mysteries. It's SDR2, come on. And no, Koizumi's not going to have as big an advantage here as you'll all likely think she will. You'll see, I guess - basically, I'm not about to go breaking the biggest, most important element of my source material.

- The Mioda/Hinata that's already been written kicks in around chapter four-ish, and it's very strong. Do not read the fic if you absolutely hate the ship.

- Also, don't read the fic if you don't like pseudo-Sues, but you probably already figured out that one.


	2. Chapter One: Safety Catch

When Koizumi eventually woke, it was – unfortunately for the good ol' 'just a dream' cliche – in a place unfamiliar. She tried to tell herself that the plain white ceiling was surely the same one in her cabin, but the lighting felt _off_; the place was too bright to be hers. All the same, she would have _liked_ to think that she had just woken up for an awful nightmare, and so she spent a full minute sleepily arguing with herself, before she yawned and came to the conclusion that the matter could only be decided if she moved. It hurt to move, but the photographer was nothing if not strong–willed; with a soft whine, she managed to roll onto her side, and – nope, she was definitely not in her room. She was lying on an old mattress in a small place with clean white walls; there was a bed crammed into the corner opposite her, and medical equipment of every shape and size taking up the rest of the space. The sound of the sea was faint compared to the loud, insistent beeping of the machine closest to her, but it was _there_; proving that she was still on this blasted island.

Koizumi didn't know what was more irritating, the machine's noise or this realization.

"A–ah! U–uh... um..." The door clicked open, and there stood Mikan Tsumiki, wringing her hands in a show of nerves. She was worried, just as she always was worried; she was worried that Koizumi might hate her for her sudden entrance, worried that the others might hate her for leaving early from breakfast today to look after her patient – but most of all, she was worried that Koizumi would hate her thoroughly for not being there right when she woke up. Tsumiki carefully picked her way across the room, and there was a new worry with every step; that she would trip and fall, that her patient would take a photo of the embarrassing pose, perhaps even _laugh._

When she eventually stood at the side of the mattress, she took a deep breath, and then tried desperately to think of what she was going to say, even as she spoke, the words tumbling out of her mouth: "I–I, um.. ah–! I–I didn't think that y–you would ever wa–" She stopped, and Koizumi shuddered at the realization of how Tsumiki was thinking about ending that sentence; but fortunately for all concerned, she changed tact to something distinctly less morbid. "I–I d–didn't think you were going t–to, um, w–w–wake up s–so, um, fast?"

_Wait, how did **I**_ _know all that?_

Wondering if she was still dreaming, the photographer closed her eyes, and Tsumiki's thought–stream simply _stopped. _Koizumi couldn't hear that wimpy little inner voice anymore; and she relaxed a little at that, then remembered that the girl had asked a question. She tried to clear her throat, but it came out as a rough series of coughs that burned, and seconds later there was a trembling hand propping her up and a piece of soft plastic in her mouth, a cool liquid dribbling from it.

"H–here. D–drink a little..." Koizumi swallowed gratefully, downing the contents of the bottle as fast as she dared, her eyes still firmly closed. " I–I'm so sorry about this–!" Tsumiki was saying. "I–I should have g–g–given y–you a tube, b–but–!"

"It's okay–?" Koizumi mumbled around the bottle, pulling away from it as best she could – not easy, given that Tsumiki was still holding it in her face. The nurse automatically shrank back at the move, then realized her mistake far too late and let out a startled noise as with no–one holding her up, the photographer flopped back onto the mattress.

"S–sorry! L–let me help–!"

"I'm _fine_!" Koizumi snapped, squirming around in an attempt to sit up again, but Tsumiki was apparently deaf in her panic; she took the photographer and propped her up once more, one arm around her waist and the other brushing against her chest. The photographer opened her eyes, and instantly worry hit her like an oncoming train, worry about dropping her earlier, about dropping her _now_, about being a terrible nurse, of failing nursing exams, but most of all the worry that Koizumi would look down.

Needless to say, that is _exactly_ what Koizumi proceeded to do.

And needless to say, she immediately regretted it.

"Aiiiiieeee!" she all but screamed at the sight of the plain white singlet, neatly rolled up just under her ribs – but _mostly_ at the sight of the rather bloodied bandages neatly wrapped about her lower torso. The worried thoughts from Tsumiki were immediately three times faster, adding to the photographer's panic – Koizumi was going to _hate _her for this, just like everyone hated her, everyone hated her no matter what she tried, she was so, so, _so_ sorry, and the red–head couldn't even move enough to put her hands over her ears. "S–stop it!" someone whimpered, and after a few seconds Koizumi registered that she'd said that herself.

"Ahhh, um – I–it's okay, I–I–promise–! Y–you're going to b–be okay–! I–I'll jump o–off a cliff if you're n–not!"

Koizumi hunched over as best she could given the bandages that went from her waist up to just below her ribcage, trying desperately to stay calm. Given Tsumiki's incessant apologies in her ears and in her mind, it wasn't easy. "D–don't worry about it. Please don't worry… Just tell me what happened."

_You almost died_, said Tsumiki's thoughts, _and I'm so, so, so, so sorry, please don't hate me–_

"U–uh, Hinata found you", she babbled out loud. " H–he, um, fainted, but b–before that – uh, er, h–he screamed so loudly th–that Mioda started screaming t–too... Um... Then I–I ran after her, a–and then a lot of things h–happened... S–sorry, it's not very clear..."

Koizumi closed her eyes wearily, only to relish the silence that Tsumiki's pause and the abrupt disappearance of her thought–stream created.

_Wait..._

Curious now, she opened one eye to look at the nurse. Worried thoughts instantly filled her mind – thoughts about Koizumi's health , whether or not bad news can kill people instantly, whether or not the patient dying on Tsumiki would be classified as murder. When she closed her eye, she was left once again in peace and quiet.

_How interesting,_ she thought dozily. With this little ability, she could stop everyone from killing. With this, no–one would be _able_ to kill, because she'd always be there, ready to spoil their plans. With this, everyone would be friends, because she'd always know exactly where tensions were forming and would be able to resolve them.

With this, everyone would be safe.

* * *

><p>When the girls first arrived on the scene, Tsumiki of course ran to first Hinata's, then Koizumi's unconscious forms, checking for a pulse, then dragged Koizumi up the beach, hastily pulling bandages from her apron and getting to work. Mioda, however, had other ideas; there wasn't much she could do in the situation and any attempts to help would surely only get her shooed away by Tsumiki. So, after attempting to help the other girl and, indeed, getting shooed off, the guitarist looked left and right for something to do.<p>

"Looking, looking, looking", she mumbled to herself, turning in a slow circle, and brightening when she caught a glint of something over on the sand dunes. "Looking, looking, lookeeeee– Eeeee! Ding–dong, Ibuki's got it!" she cheered, bounding over to it – the source of the glint was a brand–new paperback with the glossy white cover, just lying there in the open. "Ooooh, a present? Let's see, where's the blurb that'll totes tell Ibuki who to throw it at!" With hands shaking ("So much excitement, Ibuki can barely handle it – look, she's trembling all over!"), Mioda flicked through the pages; slowly at first, but then faster as she realized that nothing in the book seemed to be in a language she could understand.

"Ahhh… A fetch! Ibuki'll have to consult Sonia–chan for more information on this plot poi–"

And then she reached the final page, and was so surprised that she stopped for a long moment, reading several times over the charred and burned note that had been placed there.

_If you want to save their lives, read this._

_– A Friend_

"Uh, Mikan–chan–! Ibuki thinks she's got the motive!" she called, but Tsumiki wasn't listening. Having sighed several times in her general direction and gotten no response, Mioda set off down the beach towards the lodge. She was _intending_ to tell the others what had happened to Koizumi, of course, but – she _did _have a possible motive in her hands, and so the guitarist stopped as soon as she was out of sight of Tsumiki behind the dunes, staring down at the book. She'd surely look stupid if she showed up with a clue without having even tried to figure out what it meant, and stupid wasn't very stylish. And, besides – if there was really a way to save everyone on this island, Mioda wanted to know about it, _pronto._

She hesitated for a split second longer, then shrugged and turned to the first page; bizarrely enough, it was comprehensible. She must have turned over two pages when she'd first attempted to read the book; she must have been that excited at what was, looking at the first page, complete nonsense. _BRAINWASHING FOR BEGINNERS'_, the book declared, and Mioda outright giggled at that, then hastily covered her mouth in case someone heard and came to see what the fuss was about. This was no motive; just a stupid fantasy book. "Hmmm… Given the plot, maybe Ibuki should chuck it at Gundam–chan–? It would be a good read for him, after all!"

_'To brainwash, simply look someone in the eyes'_, the book went on, and Mioda rolled her eyes. If that worked, she would surely have brainwashed someone a long, long time ago; she was no stranger to staring contests, after all. '_However, mind–readers cannot be brainwashed at all; others have a natural resistance_', it went on, and the girl snorted; of course the author was making up excuses for why it wouldn't work. They couldn't be sued if they just failed to say that _everyone _was resistant, could they? As for mind–readers – the guitarist tried to brush that one off, she really did, but the book seemed to be hell bent on including them. '_Always keep the brainwashed away from mind–readers', _it rambled. _'If the brainwashed makes prolonged eye contact with a mind–reader, the brainwashed will return to normal state. As the mind–reader cannot read the intentions of the brainwasher or the brainwashed, and the brainwasher cannot brainwash the mind–reader, the two are natural enemies. Be very careful of–_

"Hey! What's up?"

And suddenly Souda was there before Mioda's sarcastic inner commentary could continue, standing over her with a goofy smile sprawled across his sharklike features. She wanted to glare, of course, but she only smiled at him. "Heyyyy, Kazuichi–chan!" she purred. "Ibuki's spirits are totally up in the air, but Mahiru–chan's down, down, dowwwwn! Where's Kazuichi–chan at, hmmm? Up? Down? Left? Right? A? B?"

"Uh–, I guess I'm all ri– _what the hell?_" And here, he jumped back from her with a hasty look down at the book, waving his arms about. "Th–that thing you've got, it's–!"

Mioda glanced down, and cut loose with a shrill shriek that Souda echoed. The book was on fire in her hands, and though the flames didn't seem to be burning her at all and made no sound, the thing didn't exactly _look_ nice to hold."M–maybe Ibuki should drop it?!" she whimpered, looking to the mechanic for advice. In that moment, their eyes met – and he seemingly couldn't look away, staring at her with eyes wide. Intrigued enough by this possibly romantic gesture to momentarily forget about the book burning in her grip, Mioda carried on staring, only realizing what she might actually be doing when Souda eventually took one faltering step forwards, then another, his face going from complete terror into a neutral, slack–jawed look that made him look sillier than usual. He took a third step, and then his body seemed to sag, tilting slightly to the left as his arms fell to his sides. Eventually, his head slumped to the left, eyes glazing over; and he moved no more, just _stood _there.

"U–um… Earth to Kazuichi–chan…?" Mioda squeaked, waving one hand in front of his face. Souda didn't blink, and it was only then that the guitarist realized what might just have happened here.

_No way–! Just by staring, I…?_

"Um... Okay. I–If Ibuki seriously brainwashed Kazuichi–chan, could he jump up and down?"

Souda didn't move.

Mioda heaved a sigh of relief. "Sooooo, Kazuichi–chan's not brainwashed after all! He's just turned into a zombie for no reason at all! Now all Ibuki's got to worry about is a possible zombie plague… Wait, never-mind, that's a _huge_ worry!"

As Souda found himself leaning way too far to the left, and ended up slumped and drooling against a palm tree, the guitarist frantically flipped through the book to try and figure out how she could make the guy go back to normal. It took her a good few minutes; the book was nothing if not horribly long–winded, and Ibuki wasn't the most patient of people – especially not in the case where if she failed to get the mechanic looking at all normal, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do. Eventually, however, she managed to reach an exercise of some sort, and squinted for a few seconds at it before breaking out into a smile.

"Ahh! Ibuki's got to _think_ her directions at Kazuichi–chan! So, he's not a zombie after all! No plague after all, right-?"

_Hey! If it worked, jump up and down!_

Mioda could feel something like a light protest against it, something stirring in the sleepy mind of Souda Kazuichi, but the guy still sprang up into the air as though he'd been surprised from behind, very narrowly missing the top of the palm tree he'd been leaning against. No sooner had he landed, then he leaped up again, and again, and again, thumping down into a slightly larger depression with each landing.

Mioda grinned.

_How interesting._

And then:

_Uh... Kazuichi–chan can stop now. Really._

Souda froze mid–air, and crashed to the ground in a tangled heap. Something went _crack_ that probably shouldn't have, and Mioda winced.

_Hey, Kazuichi–chan… Act normal, maybe?_

Souda straightened, and then he scowled at her, and the first words out of his mouth were "Wh– wh–wh–whaaaaaaat the _hell_ happened?! I was jumping – hey, what did you do to me?! Don't tell me we've got a witch running around–! I don't th–think we've got any stakes here, so–"

_Okay, actually – no remembering getting brainwashed. You only just arrived here._

The mechanic blinked, rubbing at his temples. "Huh... I think I spaced out for a minute there. What were we doing again? Did I say hello?"

Mioda mumbled something like a "yeah", then looked down for the book in the awkward silence that hung between them – the thing had disappeared, but no matter. With this ability, she could stop everyone from killing. With this, everyone would be friends, because she'd _make _them friends. With this, there would be no fights, because she'd stop them in their tracks. With this, life would be perfectly peaceful, and everyone would be perfectly punctual, and alliteration would rule the island, and not even that awful bear could put a stop to any of it.

And it wasn't like all of that sentence made _sense_, even in Mioda's head, but her next thought certainly made sense: _With this, everyone's gonna be safe._

...Okay, so it only made sense in context.

You get the idea.


	3. Chapter Two: Breaking Point

Koizumi woke once again, to find an old, battered black book in her hand – the very same one that she'd found at the beach that fateful day. It was an effort, but she managed to tuck it under her pillow; it was probably for the best that no–one aside from her attempt reading it. She didn't want anyone else to cop a fireball to the chest – and besides, if someone else was to know about mind–readers, her plan to keep the peace could be compromised.

Needless to say, she scowled automatically at both reasons; what was she thinking? She had surely been delusional when the mind–reading had happened, as much as she had been delusional when the book decided to fireball the heck out of her. Just to prove that the volume was not at all dangerous now, she opened it and decided to read the entirety of the first page. Unlike the other day, she could understand the book just by reading it, which only supported the idea that she had been off her rocker the other day.

_'MIND–READING FOR BEGINNERS'_

A pity that not much of the content was practical, but all the same.

_'To mind–read, simply look at someone; the reading itself is automatic, and does not need to be forced unless the target is resistant to the reading. One may also be able to mind–read automatically if the target is very close - closing one's eyes is the only sure way to block out thoughts. If a mind cannot be read, that person is either resistant, brainwashed or the brainwasher. If this is the case, prolonged eye contact with the brainwashed will cause them to return to normal state. As the mind–reader cannot read the intentions of the brainwasher or the brainwashed, and the brainwasher cannot brainwash the mind–reader, the two are natural enemies. Be very careful of–'_

There was a flurry of footsteps, and a yell of "_Mioda, she's sleeping!_", followed by sounds of a scuffle and no small amount of childish giggling that gave Koizumi ample warning of Mioda's approach. That guitarist was the absolutely last person who needed to know about a total fantasy like this – who knows, she might actually _believe _it. Koizumi definitely didn't need another Tanaka running around, and so she was quick to pull the covers over the book, tucking it under her pillow as an added precaution. Seconds later, the door creaked open just enough for Mioda to stick her head into the room. The guitarist grinned joyfully at the sight of Koizumi, then threw the door wide with an announcement that made the walls shake with the sheer volume of it (or maybe it was just the result of the door slamming into the nearest wall; Koizumi wasn't sure):

"Hey, Mahiru–chaaaaan's awake! Everyone, come say hellooooooo! Ibuki reckons there should be a _'Yay, No–one's Dead'_ party for Mahiru–chan and everyone else, but mostly Mahiru–chan, right here and now! What does Mahiru–chan think–? Ah, too slow! But Ibuki thinks it'll be a great idea! She's got to go and organize it! Ibuki's not the best at organizing, but Byakuya–chan'll be able to help! Hey, Byakuya–chaaaaaaan–?" And with that, Mioda pranced back outside. Togami's groan was audible from outside as she presumably attempted to talk him into managing a party for seemingly no reason at all, and Koizumi sighed, letting her head sink down into the pillows as she tried to figure out whether or not she should call the girl back inside. On the one hand, the guitarist was nothing short of irritating, so loud when all she wanted was peace and quiet – but on the other hand, she wasn't sensing Mioda's thoughts as she'd sensed Tsumiki's earlier, and for someone who didn't want to believe this nonsense in the first place, that was a welcome relief. The guitarist, as irrational as she was, had somehow managed to ground Koizumi's own logic just by showing up – the whole sensing thoughts thing was now, beyond a doubt, some sort of delusion. After all, who knew what today's medicine did to your head–

"Hey, Mahiru–chaaaaan!"

And so Koizumi got no further with such thinking, since Mioda chose that moment to come bouncing back into view, hopping up and down at the door. Thankfully, there was to be no tackle–hug today – what with the many medical machines cluttering the room, the mattress Koizumi was on was difficult to get at, even for someone as headstrong as Mioda. "Hello to you too", she smiled weakly, and got an enthusiastic wave in response.

"Hello, hello, helloooooo, Mahiru–chaaaan!" the girl giggled, then tilted her head, looking almost worried for a moment. "But, um – What cake does she want, huh? Huh? Chocolate? Ibuki _loves _chocolate. Ooh, or strawberries! Ibuki'd ask Teruteru–chaaan for cream, too, but Mahiru–chan knows how he is – unfortunately, there will be no cream at Mahiru–chan's _'Yay, No–one's Dead'_ party! And no buns in the oven, or even any apple pie! A little disappointing, of course, but it's mostly exciting – actually, it's so, so, so, so, so, so, so, _so _exciting! When's Mahiru–chan gonna organize it, huh? Ibuki can barely take the suspe–"

"M–Mioda, sh–she needs _rest_, n–not party organizations!" Tsumiki snapped, trying to shoo the overenthusiastic guitarist away from the door so she could get in herself. This had mixed results, since Mioda allowed the nurse into the room, but managed to skip back into the doorway as soon as Tsumiki's back was turned, continuing to bounce on the spot. As the nurse approached the bed, her patient tensed immediately, expecting a long series of worried thoughts, but received none. A relief if there ever was one; the photographer relaxed, trying not to listen to too much of Mioda's chatter.

"C'moooon, Mikan–chaaaan!" she was whining now. "Parties are super–duper–important and totally exciting to talk about, riiiiiiiight?"

And much to Koizumi's surprise, Tsumiki actually looked like she was _considering _this idea. "W–well, I suppose–" she began, but the photographer was quick to cut her off:

"_Uh. _Mioda – I'm really not feeling well right now. We can figure out the party later, okay?"

The guitarist stared at Koizumi for a long moment, then shrugged. "Whatever super–special–important–patient–Mahiru–chaaaan says!" she trilled as she raced back outside, and before the photographer had a chance to think about what her odd behaviour might have meant, the nurse had snapped to attention, closing the door and setting to work on the machines surrounding the bed. She glanced occasionally at her patient, but said very little – which _would _be typical Tsumiki behaviour, if only she hadn't been well and truly fussing over the photographer just the other day.

_Did something happen between then and now…?_

Had she somehow managed to offend Tsumiki? Koizumi was pretty she hadn't, but then again, she _had _been delusional on the last occasion she'd woken up. "Is something wrong?" she asked after a few awkward minutes. "I mean, if I said anything the other day–"

Tsumiki sprang back from the bed, tripped over a nurse's trolley, and ended up flat on her back. "I–I–there's nothing wrong with me!" she wailed, rolling onto her hands and knees, only to take out one of the beeping machines with the motion. "Th–that's _you!_ You have a second–degree–bur–"

"You know that's not what that I mean!" Koizumi snapped. Tsumiki all but jumped to her feet, casting a regretful look in the general direction of the downed medical machine before she hurriedly cowered at the photographer's words. "You're not acting the same as usual!" Koizumi went on. "If you've got a problem with me–"

"Um, I– I really haven't got a–! H–haven't… g–got…um… have…?"

And then she stopped altogether, staring into her patient's eyes, staring so hard that she was almost _glaring._ Startled, Koizumi blinked and looked away, but the other girl didn't move a muscle; a curious glance back up found the poor thing still staring. Frowning, the photographer made some effort to sit up, went to ask if she was all right, but then Tsumiki was pale as a sheet, she was trembling from head to toe, and any such questions went straight out of Koizumi's head. There was no way that the nurse could possibly be _all right_, not even _okay_; she looked positively _awful._

With a gargantuan effort, the photographer eased herself up on her pillows, watching the other girl carefully. Tsumiki never took her gaze from Koizumi, and all too soon, the photographer was once again hearing the other girl's thoughts. Soft and slow they crawled, murmuring little things such as '_Where am I?' _and '_What's going on again?',_ but they were getting louder and faster with every moment, more confused and worried.

_You're kidding me. You're just… joking around, Tsumiki. Aren't you? Th–this has got to be some sort of prank. Did Souda do something? He did, he didn't he? He… it must be a joke… please…?_

But Tsumiki's thoughts only continued on their confused way, and – Koizumi didn't want to believe it, but _here it was_, right in front of her, and it was difficult to ignore. She was, once again, reading someone's mind. And, to make matters even worse – if prolonged eye contact with the brainwashed supposedly woke them up and opened up their minds again, how else could Tsumiki's odd behavior be explained? Someone must have brainwashed her, someone _must _have; some evil mastermind lurking in the shadows on this awful island. Koizumi could imagine their plans all too easily; once they had gotten everyone under their control, they would surely commit murder, and then make sure everyone voted for the wrong person. Then they would surely leave the island, just as that toy had promised.

_A–and who better to murder than the one person who can't be brainwashed? Me... I'm going to end up the target of a murder plot if I'm not careful–!_

Thankfully, before such a fantasy could go any further, Tsumiki blinked and looked away at long last, shaking her head in confusion. "I–I spaced out for a minute... A–ah! Um! I–I was slacking off, w–wasn't I–! I–I'm so sorry!"

Her thoughts were confused and jumbled, but from what Koizumi could make of them, she wasn't lying. If she had been, she would surely have thought about how untrue her words were, and presumably worried about that – but no, Tsumiki really, _really_ had no idea what had happened sometime in between getting the day's breakfast and coming here, and she was so sorry for not knowing, _please don't hate me!_

Koizumi sighed, concentrating as much as she could on the real world and not the wonderfully worried mind of Mikan Tsumiki. "It's okay! I'm sure you weren't slacking!" she smiled, though it was definitely not a genuine smile. The nurse said nothing much in reply, just mumbled on and on about she was sure no–one could be so forgiving – wait, was she insulting Koizumi – _oh no, I bet she hates me now!_, and her thoughts matched most of her mumblings word–for–word. With shaking hands, she propped the photographer up into a sitting position (with pillows, to avoid an incident like last time, _hope she doesn't hate me for that one time_), and began to unwrap the bandages; they were cleaner than the last time Koizumi had seen them.

She looked on with some interest, wincing a little as the bandages closer to her injury came off, and steeling herself when after several tense minutes, the time came for her to view the damage. "I–it's not th–that bad–!" Tsumiki began, adding a silent _'Well, actually…', _and Koizumi seriously didn't need the mental commentary to know that it really was that bad. Not that she really looked at the injury much, since it was pretty disgusting from the outset – but in that quick glance downwards, she noticed a lot of red, raw skin, all with that glossy, almost wet look that the photographer knew from sunburns.

"I–it's just second–degree, really! A–a scar at most! A–and it's healing so fast... I–if we get out, y–you could have it tattooed over! I–if you're a really b–bad girl, I–I mean – n–not in _that_ way, of course–!" Tsumiki was babbling, hastily wrapping fresh bandages over the burn. Koizumi could hear the girl's worries absolutely _stewing _the entire time (_What if I hurt her? What if she hates me for this?_), but closing her eyes wasn't an option; it'd surely make it look as though she was in pain, which would only set Tsumiki off further. So, she gritted her teeth and bore it all with a smile, hastily thinking up a question to keep the poor thing occupied.

"Did you have a good breakfast?"

Sixteen thoughts shot past, most of them something along the lines of _'How do I answer it?', 'Oh no, I can't answer it!' and 'I should be shot for not knowing how to answer it!'_, before the nurse managed to stammer an answer: "Y–yes! I mean – no? Wh–whatever y–you want… L–like, i–if you're bitter about not having breakfast, then I should say it was b–b–bad, um–! B–but if you w–wanted me to have a good breakfast, I should…! N–no, this is too m–manipulative, I didn't mean to say–!" Of course, there were _another_ sixteen worries by the time she'd finished saying all this, stepping away from the bandages to inspect her work, and it was all Koizumi could to not to roll over and bury her face in the mattress in an attempt to mentally shut the girl out. This was starting to irk her, but there wasn't much she could very well do about it.

"It's okay!" the photographer declared instead, resting back on her pillows as best she could. "The question's about _you_, not me – so, it doesn't matter what I think. Right?"

"I–I–!" Tsumiki stammered, then stopped, her head hanging and mind full of worry, worry, _worry_. Much as Koizumi would have liked to say something to try and calm her fears, she couldn't. If she did – well, she had yet to think of a tactful way of doing it, and didn't really want the truth to come out, for the brainwasher (if there was really such a thing) to know exactly who to take down.

Perhaps more important, though, was the idea that Tsumiki might think she'd gone mad if Koizumi straight–up told her the truth – especially since there was still a chance that the photographer was just imagining things. First the book, then this whole reading–minds thing, and now some sort of contrived enemy in a 'brainwasher' – it all seemed so surreal, so ridiculous. She did indeed have a burn that matched the idea of getting hit in the chest with a fireball, but surely, surely, it couldn't have been the book that did it. She heard a little extra voice in her head every time Tsumiki decided that the silence was worth another worry, but that could just be a delusion – no, _had_ to be. And so, opting not to make a fool of herself just yet, she offered the nurse an encouraging smile. "You what?"

The nurse peeked up at her even as she held out the pills in one hand, reached for the glass of water beside the mattress, and there was a flash of suspicion; quickly buried beneath thoroughly negative thoughts, but _there_ nonetheless. The photographer automatically bit back a furious "Of _course _you can trust me not to mind!"; that would have either betrayed her ability or doomed her to a life of being thought mad, depending on whether or not this was real. Instead, she took the tablets ("Painkillers", muttered the nurse), tried not to pull _too_ many faces at the metallic, bitter taste they left in her mouth, and waited patiently for Tsumiki to summon up enough courage to try again.

Minutes ticked by, and the nurse just knelt at the side of the mattress, shaking and trembling; her thoughts desperately trying to address every possible way she could irritate the photographer with her eventual response. They only became more panicked as Koizumi grew more tired with the waiting; the painkillers were starting to take their toll. She so desperately wanted her patient to hear her response, her answer, and yet the photographer could feel herself leaning more heavily into the pillow, her mind starting to slip away–

"Um. I... I had a– a very nice b–b–breakfast?" Tsumiki tried at long last, watching Koizumi intently, and the other girl almost closed her eyes against the barrage of thoughts she got. Though the idea of monitoring Koizumi was far from the back of her mind, the nurse was desperately looking for a sign that she'd got her answer _right_, any sign at all. Drowsy as she was, there was just no resisting a temptation like that; the nurse wanted her approval, _craved_ her approval and in knowing this, Koizumi felt more than obliged to give it.

"That's it" she said, giving a passable attempt at a thumbs up, and there was very suddenly a large, congratulatory party going on in the nurse's mind that correlated with the hint of a smile the photographer received. And though she was falling asleep, and though she was well and truly asleep seconds later, Koizumi somehow managed to smile back somewhere in between those moments - Tsumiki's inner joy was too much for her not to acknowledge.

Maybe there was some good in this odd ability, after all.


	4. Chapter Three: Balancing Act

_Kazuichi–chaaaaan! Could he maybe–_

Souda absolutely _jumped_ to attention, his head snapping around towards her and his back going ramrod straight, and Mioda frowned.

_Uh… Kazuichi–chan probably shouldn't do that every time Ibuki asks him to do something. Someone'll notice for sure!_

The two of them were standing alone in the hotel's lobby, but she could hear the chatter of those having lunch upstairs – a constant reminder that for as long as Souda's ordered actions were this obvious, Mioda would have to be careful not to order him about in front of the rest. She knew she could make Souda and Tsumiki forget any oddities they saw easily enough, but what if that someone stronger–willed became suspicious? Even though Mioda didn't really understand how brainwashing worked, she was sure she needed more practice before she could tackle someone like that, and wasn't about to find that out the hard way. If someone found out, and they _wouldn't _forget, then what was she going to do?

"Found out what?" asked Souda, curious even in his dozy state, and Mioda shook her head to clear it.

_Don't go remembering that, Kazuichi–chan. Let's just try something else, okay? Um – act normal._

The mechanic slouched against the games cabinet, rubbing at the back of his neck, yawning. "Mmmn… Hey, reckon Hanamura's cooking anything good for lunch?"

_Now, as normally as Kazuichi–chan possibly can–_

Souda absolutely _jumped_ to attention, his heels just about clicking together, and Mioda let out an audible groan.

_No! Ibuki thought she just told Kazuichi–chan not to do it, she doesn't have this problem with Mikan–chan at all– look. Go upstairs, get a glass of soft drink, and bring it back down here. Ibuki's gotta test out her rang–_

"U–um…" someone whimpered from right behind her, and the guitarist stopped mid–order with a squeak of surprise that came out much louder then intended. She whirled – there was Tsumiki, standingin the doorway, wringing her hands nervously. "A–are you two o–okay?" she stammered, and Mioda smiled; glad that it was her. Of everyone who could have possibly ended up seeing this little scene, it was the one other person that she had under her control. This wasn't a challenge; this was as easy as telling the nurse to _forget it_, and so she did.

Tsumiki didn't so much as blink.

"Y–you were just... standing there, n–not saying anything–!" she went on. "A–and, um... W–wait, are y–you doing it now?!"

_Forget all about that_,_ Mikan–chaaaaan,_ the guitarist outright ordered, but much to her surprise, there was no acknowledgement of the order at all; the nurse just carried on talking, stepping towards them as she fumbled through the pockets of her apron.

"M–m–maybe it's an iron deficiency... I–I think I have tablets somewhere, just let me–!"

Mioda felt her smile falter slightly, but was quick to recover. "Oooh, is that a bad thing? It sure _sounds_ bad!"

And with this, she skipped straight over to the nurse who had been obeying her every whim since breakfast this morning. No matter how many times Mioda silently told her not to move, Tsumiki drew back at her approach, startled. For whatever reason, the girl was no longer brainwashed, and it wasn't like Mioda had much time to think about the why; she could hear movement from upstairs, the creak of the top step. If she didn't brainwash Tsumiki here and now, the nurse would surely raise suspicion in front of the others, and Mioda didn't need anyone to be suspicious right now.

"W–what are you d–d–doi…?" the nurse began, her gaze firmly focused on the floor. Frustrated beyond belief with the girl, knowing full well that she was running out of time, the guitarist grabbed her chin and forced it upwards, pushing Tsumiki back against the door frame. It was a risky move, but if it got the nurse looking at Mioda, it was all good, and she backed off as soon as Tsumiki was staring at her, already beginning to sway on her feet.

_Thump, thump, thump._ Someone was coming down the stairs; and that was presumably someone who Mioda didn't need seeing her little brainwashing act. There was no way she could pull this off with someone coming, surely – no, no, there _was_. It was hard to say the least, but thankfully, multitasking was something of a needed skill in the high–energy music business. And so, even as she stared Tsumiki down, the guitarist was able to reach out to Souda, steering him up the stairs towards Whoever It Was.

_Okay, Kazuichi – chan. He's gotta talk to Thingy–chan – talk to them, keep them occupied. Use their name as soon as you recognize–_

"Hey, Hinata!" she heard the mechanic call out, and the footfalls stopped for now. Somewhat relieved, Mioda left the mechanic with his half–finished orders, focusing all her energy on Tsumiki and trying not to worry about how her control on the girl might have slipped between breakfast and lunch – the more she focused, the faster the other girl fell under her control. With Souda's ad–libbing upstairs being completely atrocious, and Hinata quickly tiring of the horrible jokes, time wasn't something that was on Mioda's side; she desperately needed to focus.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

She wasn't sure what was louder at this point; the pounding of her heard or the dull footfalls as Hinata started walking down the stairs again, Souda desperately trailing along behind and trying to slow him down ("Hey, have you heard the one about the camel on the road?"). She was about to be found out, and all because of that mind–reader who had un–brainwashed Tsumiki in the first place. Wait, no, there couldn't possibly be a mind reader on the island; that was too ridiculous– _I should be focusing–!_

Tsumiki let out something like a whimper as her mind at long last drifted, and the guitarist was at last able to take a hasty step back so as to avoid any suspicion from the boys. _Act normal, but don't remember anything about the brainwashing_, she thought smugly in Tsumiki's general direction – and then Hinata was in view, standing at the foot of the stairs with a hopeless Souda all but trying to drag him back. In fact, the mechanic had one arm around his shoulders, and Hinata was trying to sidle away –

_Kazuichi–chan–! _she ordered sharply, and the mechanic stopped before he could accidentally put the other guy in a headlock or something, dropping his arms to his sides. Hinata let out a sigh of relief, then tilted his head when he saw Tsumiki, a slight frown crossing his face. The nurse dutifully shrank back in return, all shaking and worry, and for some reason that only made Hinata's frown deepen. He continued to study her for a long moment, and all Mioda could really do was pray that the acts of the brainwashed were holding up, and make sure she didn't send any orders to Souda.

"Wh–what?" Tsumiki just about spat, and the boy shrugged in reply.

"I... thought you were tending to Koizumi, I guess? N–not that I'm saying you're slacking or anything, but–"

"Hajime–chan just _said_ it, right there!" Mioda pointed out, and as Tsumiki burst into crocodile tears, Souda clapped the stunned boy across the shoulders.

"There goes another chance at a girl, huh?"

"What th– _Souda! _You _know_ I'm not into–"

"E–eh?! Y–you don't l–like me, a–at all...–! Y–you hate me, too?!"

"That's not what I meant–!"

"Ooh! Hajime–chan had better _apologize!_" Mioda just about purred, and she took the opportunity to come closer, brushing up against him. She grabbed his hand, pressed it into Tsumiki's palm, noting the sudden redness on his cheeks; that could be her opening. "Unless Hajime really likes... _someone else_, mmmm?" she hissed, and Hinata yelped in surprise. He hastily pulled his hand away from the nurse's, grabbing both of Mioda's before he realized what he was doing; their eyes met, and he went even redder.

"No! I mean, yes! I mean, uh – sorry–?"

The guitarist giggled, gently prying his hands away; she surely had his full attention now. Hinata, she figured, would make a good addition to the group; he was calm–minded, charismatic, and not on terrible terms with anyone. "It's settled, then!" she purred, thinking fast – with the others upstairs, she couldn't risk a brainwashing here and now. "A peace–party, with drinks on the beach! They'll have to be soft drinks, but Ibuki's sure Hajime–chan won't mind that little detail, right?" _Get excited, Souda_, she added, and the mechanic started jumping up and down, briefly strumming an air guitar before Mioda put a stop to that possible attempt to reveal her. She'd had more than enough of his nearly getting her rustled for today, and she was so very, very close to getting Hinata on her side now-

"Yeah!", Souda cheered. "Girls with barely anything on, here I come!" Hinata gave him a funny look, and the brainwasher's heart just about stopped. Had the guy finally realized what was going on? Had she made one too many stuff–ups? She thought hard at Souda, carefully controlling his every motion; the mechanic gracefully slowed to a stop, tilted his head, and said exactly what the guitarist told him to."What? Can't a guy get excited around here?"

As soon as that line was out of his mouth, Mioda was giving Hinata's hand a squeeze, effectively distracting him from any sort of oddity about Souda or Tsumiki. Soon, very soon, he wouldn't notice a thing; she smiled at the thought, and the guy blushed even more, though presumably for all the wrong reasons. "C'mon, Hajime–chan! It's gonna be so exciting! Ibuki wouldn't want to miss it for all the world, 'mmmm?"

And – still holding his hand, of course – she dragged him out the door before he could object.

* * *

><p>"Koizumi! Koizumi! Wake up! It is time for your regular exercises!"<p>

_It's... huh?_

Koizumi opened one eye, then instantly wished she hadn't; Nidai was standing over her, staring her right in the eye, and thoughts were _loud_, much like the coach himself. His rambunctious enthusiasm came crashing directly into her head, and she groaned, rolling over and closing her eye; looking to see who it was had clearly been a huge mistake. "L–leave me alone–!" she mumbled sleepily, but the coach wasn't about to give up and they both knew it.

"No – _Koizumi!_ It is very important to keep your muscles loose after an injury!"

"Is it now?" the photographer growled, still sleepy and not particularly wanting to know what Nidai had in mind – figuratively or literally.

"Yes!" the coach affirmed, tugging the covers off her with ease. "I will begin with stretches, to determine the severity of your injury", he explained, and she felt him take her by the shoulders. Koizumi sighed, braced herself for both some painful exercises and some very bombastic thoughts, and allowed the sports manager to sit her up against her pillows before she dared to open her eyes.

An incredible energy hit her once again; Nidai was a loudthinker, all right. Even once he'd moved behind her and started rubbing at her exposed shoulders, she could sense his thoughts, yelling away. The only reason her head didn't start aching was that the guy's mind was nothing but good things, and so though the thoughts were loud, they things such as '_With these exercises, Koizumi's going to make a full recovery!' , 'She can do it!'_, so on and so forth. They were almost comforting, in a very shouty sort of way. Many of them had pictures associated with them, faded memories of previously injured athletes flickering in Koizumi's mind – she thought she might have seen _Nidai_ in a hospital bed at one point, but it went by so quickly that she couldn't quite be sure. The photographer swallowed hard, shaking her head to try and clear it a little, then decided to ask what he had planned.

_Best to get the painful part of things over with already._

"What sort of stretches?" she murmured, and shifted her weight forwards, trying to gently remove her shoulders from his grip – but he just leaned into the motion and carried on rubbing. The photographer frowned at that, and focused on Nidai's mind as best she could given that he was behind her, searching for any sort of perverted thoughts; however, she couldn't find any. That didn't necessarily mean that they _weren't _there, though – something quiet hidden behind all that yelling – and the idea made her uneasy.

"First of all, I will massage your shoulders thoroughly!" the coach declared, and his grip tightened; Koizumi winced.

"M–maybe we could skip–?"

"OOOORAAAAAAAAH!" said Nidai.

"I'll take that as a _no_", she mumbled in the second between his announcement and his thumbs pressing hard between her shoulder–blades. What followed had to be the most painful experience she had ever suffered, aside from possibly copping a firey book to the chest – Koizumi's muscles where stiff and sore, and didn't react well to all the poking and prodding Nidai gave them. She whimpered when the coach's hands brushed one particularly sore spot low on her back. "Uh, I'm fine–!" she began hastily, but Nidai just grunted and focused on that part for a good few minutes, carefully working out the knots.

"I am the ultimate masseur! I will not rest until every section of your back has been worked to my satisfaction, or my name isn't NEKOMARU NIDAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!"

Needless to say, Koizumi was careful not to make another sound after that. Nevertheless, half an hour crawled by before Nidai was satisfied with his workout, and left the cabin, left her exhausted.

But she wasn't quite exhausted enough not to notice that Tsumiki had been missing throughout the exercises, and that unnerved her enough for her to keep her eyes open. And so Koizumi waited patiently for hours on end for the nurse's return - waited futilely, waited until it was no longer afternoon and Monobear's announcement boomed inside the cabin.

That was when she got to her feet, and steadying herself against first the bed and then the wall, started to limp out of the room.


	5. Chapter Four: Beachwashed

**A/N:** On the 3rd December, a very much incorrect version of this chapter was uploaded, which contained a certain event/s that were either removed or heavily edited to give a different outcome in the final fic. They were part of the early beta, and somehow sneaked their way into the file I was using to upload Mind Games. Because they are very important event/s, and severely impact on the fic later on, this chapter has been re-uploaded, then it got split into two smaller chapters due to the length, thus two uploads. Please enjoy the correct version of Mind Games!

* * *

><p>Mioda giggled at the (lame) joke, and Hinata smiled. "C'mon, Hajime–chaaaaan!" she teased, reaching across the white beach sand to take the guy's hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "He's gotta try a <em>little <em>harder than that for Ibuki! Or isn't Ibuki special to him–?"

"N–no, of course!" Hinata stammered. "I mean – you _are_ special, Mioda."

"Oh, oh, oh…?"The guitarist was quick to answer that one, cocking her head to the side in a fashion she considered to be quite cute in its own right. "Hajime–chan means Ibuki's Super–High–School–Level–Special?"

"Well, I guess so", he laughed, and even though it was one of the most awkward laughs she'd ever heard, she still laughed along. Still – it _was_ awkward, and so Mioda took the opportunity to try and stare him down, end this charade that had been going on for hours but Hinata wouldn't look her in the eye – in fact, he'd been refusing to do that all afternoon. This was starting to frustrate her, but her only showing of it came in the form of a pout and a slightly harder–than–necessary nudge in the side.

"C'mooooon, Hajime–chan!" she whined. "Can't he tell Ibuki something she _doesn't _know? Like – um, maybe a really good joke, or – a whole comedy routine! Ibuki demands a routine–!"

"I–I'm not going to do a routine!" Hinata blurted, his face going even redder than it had already appeared in the light of the setting sun. Mioda only giggled in reply, settling herself against his shoulder. The two of them were alone on the beach together, watching the sunset. There were no clouds to sour the view; just shades of orange and pink and yellow painted across the sky. The fading light sparkled off the occasional white-cap, and it was dazzling enough that Ibuki would bury her face into Hajime's side every time it happened. Thankfully, the guy didn't seem too irritated by this quirk of hers; he bore it all with incredible patience. It was almost as though he was _waiting _for something, for every time she pulled back, he'd glance her way with a look that almost bordered on longing; but that was all it was, just an odd look, nothing more.

Two plastic cups filled with soft drink were half–buried in the sand in front of them; occasionally, Hinata would take a sip of whatever concoction he'd gotten from the island's vending machine. _Ramune _the stuff was called, and of course the guitarist had pretended she loved it. "Hajime-chan's so _considerate_, Ibuki's breaking character to use longer words!" she'd purred when he'd retrieved the bottles from the machine, though her foot was tapping when she said it. She honestly hadn't expected Hinata to take such a long time to procure the drink, but apparently selecting an item from the machine was very important to him; he had deliberated for nearly an hour on whether or not he should get a multitude of other items as presents for what was, in his mind, a date.

And maybe it was a date in Mioda's mind as well – they were together on the beach now, Hinata presumably enjoying the sunset and holding her hand. That the guitarist was admittedly enjoying the thought of everything she was going to make him do later on was… okay, maybe thatmade it _not_ a date. Or maybe that only made it a date for Hinata, she wasn't entirely sure. It certainly wasn't a date for Souda and Tsumiki, pretending to be playing chess at the entrance to the beach, pretending that they had absolutely nothing to do with the night–vision–goggles purloined from Rocketpunch resting in the sand behind them.

"Soooo… No routine?" she asked at last, breaking the awkward silence between them. "C'moooon, Hajime–chan! He and Ibuki can _totes_ take turns, and–"

"No way!" Hinata growled. "Seriously – no comedy routines from either of us on the first date, okay?"

"F–f–f–_first_? Date? Meaning there'll be more than one? Meaning it's totally a date?!"

"U–uh, I–I mean… I just like your company. Th–that's _all_ it is, okay?"

Mioda hung her head at his words, then sighed dramatically and took a sip of her drink. "…Okay."

Minutes passed in silence, and they stretched into nearly an hour's worth. They drank in quiet; occasionally, Mioda would make some stupid gurgling noise with her drink, or offer to show Hinata the cup song when he'd finished with his, and he'd just laugh and look away, staring into the distance. All too soon, the sun had slunk well below the horizon, and it was only when Mioda took out the torch she'd grabbed from the convenience store that the guy eventually made some half–hearted effort to get up. He looked more than a little annoyed, and perhaps rightfully so - he'd waited all afternoon for Mioda to make a further advance on him and she'd never actually tried, a mistake she only realized now. "Hey… It's gotten kind of late, don't you think?"

Luckily, the guitarist saw the question behind the question – or at least, she saw the opportunity. "And there's one thing Ibuki's still gotta do! It is absolutely necessary for Hajime–chan's friendship levels to go through the roof!"

And then, without further ado, the guitarist leaned hard into him. That Hinata ended up flat on his back wasn't part of the plan, but Mioda went on with it anyway, ignoring the guy's muffled noise of surprise in favour of brushing her lips against his. It wasn't _really_ a kiss, but combined with the way her hands settled on Hinata's shoulders and the way she lingered in that position, it was enough for what she intended. She pulled back to enjoy the look of shock on the poor guy's face – Hinata had no idea what the heck had just happened, and he lay there in front of her, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Caught completely off guard, his thoughts racing and panicked, he didn't have a snowflake's chance in hell of avoiding Mioda's gaze, as he had done so many times earlier; he just stared right back, and she focused. His expression was priceless – what a pity he was going to have to forget all about this moment, or she'd have teased him mercilessly about it for sure.

"That's right, Hajime–chan", she purred, quietly putting the torch back into her pocket. "It's not so hard to look at Ibuki, is it?"

"N–no, it isn't…" he mumbled, gazing back, and slowly his mind began to slip away into sleep. He was tired, he had been caught off–guard, and his hormones were presumably getting in the way of any fight he might have otherwise put up. As it was, he was brainwashed in all of ten seconds. She smiled as he slowly reached up, tried to kiss her back in his last moments of control; his hand brushing against her cheek, before trailing slowly down her neck to rest on the sand.

_Sorry, Hajime–chan, buuuuut he'd better forget all about this!_

"Do I _have_ to?" Hinata asked, and Mioda winced. He wasn't exactly going _against _her orders, not just yet, but she'd never had someone so openly question her before. She rolled off him in some confusion, her brow furrowing for a few seconds.

_Uh… Yeah? Ibuki just told Hajime–chan to do it, so–_

"GRRRROOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"said a Monobeast somewhere in the distance, distracting the guitarist enough that she forgot all about the guy she was supposed to be brainwashing for a few seconds. Worried orders were sent to Souda and Tsumiki, quick orders telling them to find whoever was causing the ruckus and stop them before the noise had everyone on the island wide awake.

Hinata yawned, his mind drowsy, but still somehow functioning for him to speak again. "Hey, should I be worried? I mean… I guess I've got to do what you say now, right?"

_That's the thinking, Hajime–chan! And for starters, he can stop dropping pickup lines out of a R–rated film!_

Of course, he went to make a smart–alec response, but Mioda decided to stare him into complete submission. There was a lot of struggling, a lot of protesting at the loss of his independence, and the feeling that if she took her eyes off him for even a moment, he'd say something that definitely wasn't in the script, but overall – it wasn't like a few words were about to stop her in her tracks. And a few words was the best he was ever going to manage, too - smart-alec or not, he still had to do what she said, for whatever ridiculous reasons that lay behind why Mioda could brainwash anyone in the whole jolly first place. He would still be useful to her, he could still help her draw the others away, one by one - and speaking of the others, it might be best to check in or her guards. The last she'd heard, there was a rather cross Monobeast running loose on the island, and she'd sent Souda and Tsumiki running in its general direction.

Not her _best_ idea.

_All right, Hajime–chan! Ibuki might have made a teeny, tiny mistake, sooooo... Um, let's go and see if Kazuichi–chan and Mikan–chan are–_

"Wh–wh–wh–wh–whAAAAAAT THE HEEEEEEELL?!"

"AIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

And with those screams, Mioda had a funny feeling that maybe her two beachguards _weren't_ all right. Scrambling to her feet, she led Hajime across the beach in a wild, albeit very guilty, charge, holding his hand with one that just wouldn't stop shaking, willing her two guards to run from whatever terror was after them. In a truly unromantic end to the date-not-date, the duo staggered to a halt at the entrance to the beach, the guitarist fumbling in her pocket for the torch before just about dragging Hinata down the main path as the screams started up again. If she'd just managed to get her friends killed - no, no, _no, _that wasn't right, that wasn't going to happen.

_Everything's going to be all right-!_

"Yeah, of course!" Hinata agreed wholeheartedly, and even if it was only because he was well and truly brainwashed, it spurred Mioda on anyway. Everything _was _going to be just fine, no matter how many people were screaming now. She was going to take out the thing that was attacking them, somehow, and they would be grateful, and it would all be okay. She ignored the way the underbrush had been trampled and the sheer panic in those wails in favour of this theory - in the fine tradition of many a stupid action hero, Ibuki Mioda she was well and truly determined that everyone was going to be okay.

A pity, then, that this wasn't a action series.


	6. Chapter Five: Let's Play Tag

**A/N: **Warning for goofy chase physics. Author may or may not have been playing rather a lot of Skate 2 of late. Author refuses to apologize, in any case. (Again, lots of edits to this and the previous chapter - this and the last one were originally Chapter 4. If you read the original Chapter 4, which finished with one of the goofiest chase scenes out, please re-read Chapter 4 before continuing. Thanks!)

* * *

><p>"Great. Just... great."<p>

She wasn't in the best of conditions to be walking in the first place, and now she was lost in the dark, which to Koizumi meant even more walking than she might otherwise have done. The bandages were restrictive to say the least and her burn definitely didn't like the natural jostling that came with her movement; her steps were slow and painful. Even if she _did_ somehow find Tsumiki, the red–head was sure she'd have been more told off than rewarded. This, in short, was a fantastically stupid idea, and the only reason she was even trying it was likely because the pain medicine and fatigue was going to her head.

She'd blundered around the cabins for a time, before crossing the bridge to the main island. She'd hoped to find the beach from there, but she seemed to have gone the wrong way – the sound of the sea was faint now, and she was well off the path, stumbling through the brush. Right now, Koizumi was hopelessly lost, with no visible landmarks.

_Although…. What about–?_

She turned in a slow circle, until she caught sight of two small, bright, red lights off in the distance. If those they were what she figured they were, they would lead her back to the main path, perhaps even back to the bridge. And so, she took a step. Two. Thr–

_"Rrrrrrrrrrrr…"_

She froze on the spot, peering into the darkness. How close _was _she to whatever Monobeast it was? She definitely wasn't on the path yet; still in the scrub. It shouldn't have growled – she wasn't even on the path next to it, and at any rate, it had never growled at her before. In fact, it couldn't have been growling at _her_ – it had no reason to, and robots just didn't do things without reasons. Someone else must have been messing about near it, and going off the ferocity of the growling, they were surely in trouble.

And so, hoping to stop Whoever It Was from getting themselves killed, Koizumi began to move forwards once again. Those were tense minutes, while the thing over there was growling and she was approaching, praying that no–one was about to meet an unfortunate end. She was shaking with every step, tense and nervous as she was, but she had no choice; the photographer _had_ to find the path back to the bridge, if not try her best to keep Whoever It Was out of trouble. Sometimes, the Monobeast would shift its position with a series of loud creaks and whirs, and she would jump back with a short, shrill noise, before ducking her head and continuing onwards.

In hindsight, those tense minutes were relatively peaceful compared to what came next – it was only when something bumped into her chest rather suddenly that all hell _really_ broke loose. It was a hard, blunt something, cool against her bandages, something that hissed and rumbled from time to time.

Something that was, in fact, growling rather loudly as of now.

Koizumi had exactly two seconds to realize that yes, she had been on the same side of the path as the thing the whole time, and yes, it _had _turned towards her to look at her, before the thing lunged. Thanks to the fact that its head was already in her chest area, the lunge sent her flying – not far, but giving enough time for her to scramble to her feet and run for her life, with the beast crashing behind her, roaring at the top of its lungs.

"GRRRROOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

Up ahead, she could hear voices, panicked and high, something about stopping whoever was causing the noise, and she steered straight for them, stumbling and sobbing, her injury throbbing and breathing coming in short gasps. The thing behind her should have captured her by now, but it was slow in the difficult terrain – a fact only emphasized when it managed to trip behind her and go down with a noise loud enough to make the ground tremble. It cut loose with a snarl, and she made a very interesting noise indeed.

"H–hey! Whaddaya think you're doing?!" someone yelled, and far too late Koizumi looked up and realized both she and her pursuer were heading straight for Souda and Tsumiki, visible by the light of the torch in the mechanic's hand. Bizarrely enough, both of them had moved to block the path leading down to the beach, and both of them were wearing some sort of bizarre headgear, but there was no worrying over such things; the red-head had a veritable beast chasing her down right now. Koizumi made a sharp turn left in front of the two of them, sprinting down the path, and much to her surprise, they both started running after her.

"H-hey! Wh-wh-what do you think you're doing out here? You'd better get to bed!"

"Yeah, what she said!"

Koizumi carried right on sprinting down the path, and for some reason unknown the two continued to follow, yelling all the while. It was kind of ridiculous in hindsight - there she was, on the run from a thing that presumably wanted to kill her, and these two self-proclaimed cowards were chasing her, calling after her to stop making such a noise, that she had better get to bed _right now_, and definitely not go anywhere near the beach while she was doing tha–

"Wh–wh–wh–wh–whAAAAAAT THE HEEEEEEELL?!"

"AIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

_**WHAM!**_

Going off that enlightening dialogue, they'd just noticed the very loud, very conspicuous Monobeast coming after Koizumi, and they were running from that instead, which just so happened to be running in the same direction the photographer was already going in. Souda dropped his torch, and the creature didn't make the turn on the slippery gravel, skidding into a tree before getting up and bounding down the path after them, and chaos reigned supreme – it was pitch black, and Souda was screeching and Tsumiki was whimpering and Koizumi was half–laughing and half sobbing at the stupidity of it all. They were running and running and praying that the thing wouldn't catch up, but on the path, its way wasn't hampered by trees and brush, leaving it free to go into a headlong charge straight for them.

"We're not gonna to outrun that thing!" Souda wailed, his voice just barely audible over the noise of three people and one enormous robot running on gravel. "It's been _built _to take us out, come on–!"

"Just keep running!" Koizumi panted. "W–we'll figure something out–!"

"You sure? Because right now, the only thing we're gonna be figuring out is what sort of lettering we should put on the menu! We've been served already! Grilled! Fried! Sautéed!"

Koizumi gritted her teeth, then grabbed Souda with one hand, Tsumiki with the other, and veered off the path quite suddenly. There was a spray of gravel behind them as the Monobeast once again lost its footing on the turn, followed by a guttural roar and a screech of terror from one of the two people Koizumi was dragging along. Maybe it was from both of them - it was loud enough to have the girl's ears ringing afterwards.

"Poached! Barbecued! Roasted!" Souda was babbling now, and despite the situation, Koizumi couldn't resist clicking her tongue in irritation.

"Hey, you know how I just said _we _were going to work something out?"

"Yeah?"

"Change that to _I_, and keep running."

"Oh, _now_ we're stewed. And chewed. Not to mention totally scr-"

"U–um… Maybe w-we should... s-stop running-?"

"We're toast if we stop", Koizumi snapped, ignoring the mechanic's wail at her unfortunate choice of words(_"Toasted! It's confirmed!"_).

"B-b-but... I–I can see a cliff, um, r–r–right in front of us…? Th–the log doesn't even block the way p–properly… Wh-what a shoddy job!"

"You want _that _to be your final words?"

"Hey, it _is _shoddy." Souda pointed out. "It's not even pointing sideways, across the cliff. It's pointing straight ahead."

"If I get out of this alive, I'm carving 'shoddy' into your gravestones!" Koizumi growled, dropping back behind the other two and turning to face the thing crashing through the undergrowth behind them. She intended to slow the thing down enough for the other two to get away from the cliff that they apparently could see, and she couldn't; they had a better chance of escaping, since they could see was admittedly a very brave maneuver, and one that would surely have gotten Koizumi a post-mortem medal, but unfortunately it fell flat - _literally_, because she'd somehow failed to register that two very scared teenagers were, indeed, still holding onto her. She bumped into one of them and tripped over the other while she was turning, and so all three of them wound up on the ground in a tangled heap, with the Monobeast bearing down on top of them. There was no way out from under the pile, not in the dark when she was already gasping for breath, grimacing in pain. This was her fault, as much as it was her fault for bumping into the beast in the first place and then deciding to run for the nearest human voice in her earlier panic.

Thanks to her idiocy, they were all going to die here.

She felt Souda's frightened leap from the top of the pile, felt him push off her back and jam her chest into the dirt. It was a sudden, ridiculous act of either extreme bravery or complete cowardice, and of course he was screaming at the top of his lungs, but it didn't matter. The creature leaped high over the two girls and came after him, claws slicing the air inches from their heads. It was built for speed, it seemed; so fast despite its considerable size, faster than even a very frightened mechanic. It would take him down, that or it would drive him off the cliff, and then it would come back for them. They were all going to-

"Hey! You! Metal-head!"

And then there was light, reflecting off the weird goggles Tsumiki was wearing, the hide of the enormous metal lion crouched over Souda, the creature frozen in position as it tried to adjust to the change in brightness. Koizumi shuddered at both sights; glancing back towards a truly unlikely pair of rescuers; Mioda and Hinata, the latter with a smear of black lipstick on his cheek. Then again, both of them _were _just standing there, and their minds both felt cold and dead, so perhaps there was an intelligent mastermind behind their appearance, one with an elaborate plan to take down the Monobeast who was no longer stunned by the light, and currently threatening to eat the mechanic's face.

_Speaking of which-_

"I said, _hey! _Hey, hey, you, you-!" Mioda just about screamed, rushing at the robot with a truly disturbing amount of bravado. As expected from a very cross animal who had been about to chow down at long last, the robot turned and stood over the mechanic with a snarl that made the ground tremble. The guitarist echoed the noise with a screech of fear, jumping backwards, and the Monobeast sprang at her display of weakness - but not _at _her. No - by the time Mioda had finished her movement, the robotic lion was sitting firmly on the ground, the torch's spotlight between its big paws. A smile tugged at the photographer's lip, and she heard Tsumiki coo softly. She couldn't blame the nurse - the enormous, scary thing that had been trying to kill them two minutes ago was now legitimately engaged by a little light, and the resulting spectacle was almost _cute_, in a terribly dangerous sort of way.

"Here, kitty!" the guitarist called, and pointed the torch a good way off to the right, letting the Monobeast chase it before she turned to the left, which of course caused it to run the other way. Hinata beckoned to the two girls on the ground, and somehow Souda hadn't passed out from fear; as they staggered from the edge of the cliff, he crawled after them, eventually managing to pull himself up against the other boy. He was breathing heavily, shaking from head to toe; he pulled up his goggles, and his eyes were wide and brimming with tears. Normally, Koizumi would have told him off for such a display of open cowardice, but then again, not a minute ago he'd been about to die horribly.

"Okay, everyone!" Mioda was saying now, but it didn't really register with Koizumi; they were backing away from the Monobeast now, walking away together, and everything was all right again. All they needed to do was find some way to stop its prancing after them, following the light, and that wasn't a hard thing to accomplish. Really, all Mioda needed to do was put down the torch-

"Ibuki really, really, _really_ hopes everyone brought sunglasses along!"

-but then again, this was _Mioda_, and because she was her wonderful self, she chose to chuck the thing straight off the cliff. With only a soft growl of irritation, the creature jumped after it, and it fell, it fell, it _fell_ - steel whistling through the sudden darkness being the only indication of its fall. When it actually hit the water below, they all heard it; the loud splash that caused Souda to jolt upright next to Koizumi, then the explosion that had him just about collapse out of terror right then and there. The ground shook yet again, then there was a flash of bright, bright light, and Mioda whooped in joy. "Woooooooow! It's even more awesome than Ibuki could have had hoped for!"

As the light died down to a sizeable fireball out on the water, Tsumiki whimpered, Souda decided that now would be an excellent time to remember to scream, Hinata stared emptily into the distance, and Koizumi groaned, burying her face in her hands. She couldn't read the guitarist's mind, but thanks to this little action, a perfect opportunity for peace and trust between the five of them had just been rather effectively ruined. They were all going to be in so much trouble for ruining one of Monobear's precious creations - they would surely be punished, and he'd surely use that punishment to keep them apart.

But then again, maybe that was what the puppetmaster behind the two clearly brainwashed people in the group _wanted. _And since Koizumi wasn't about to let them have their way, she made a promise right then and there, as she watched the flames dance over the waves, a silent reminder of the thing that had almost killed her.

_Mioda... Hinata... You guys saved my life. So... I'm going to make use of this life! I'll beat the brainwasher and set you both free, I promise-!_


	7. Chapter Six: The Announcement

**A/N: **Final warning that if you read the original chapter four, which finished with Souda beating up a Monobeast, you need to re-read chapters four and five!

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><p>"Now, I <em>would <em>make the usual announcement – but ohhhhh, you bastards are in _so much trouble!_ This isn't gonna be a good day for _anyone_ now!"

Mioda let out a sleepy groan, raising herself from the pillows and stealing a glance at the screen in her cabin. As expected, that awful bear was wailing away, waving its cocktail glass in a fashion it presumed to be threatening. "My poor, poor little Monobeast! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! You bastards blew it up, in cold blood no less! I nearly spat my _pina colada _all over the screen!"

This lecture went on for some minutes; and Mioda could imagine that the others had probably tuned out after the first twenty seconds. Monobear was merely telling them all off for something not all of them had done, and so long as he continued to yell and scream, the worst emotion any of them would have felt was irritation. He wasn't about to do anyth–

"–so I've devised a fitting punishment for our five Super–High–School–Level _Idiots!_"

"Wh–what?!" Mioda stammered, hurriedly rolling out of bed and to her feet. Unfortunately, it wasn't as neat as she would have liked it to be; the sudden flow of blood to her head meant that she swayed a little on the spot, causing the bear to break out into a series of barking laughs.

"Upupupupu! Nothing like a little threat to bring out the slapstick! I think the prize has to go to Souda, though – what a leap!" He paused for thought, and the sound of applause echoed through the loudspeaker. That was probably a recording of applause – Mioda was no stranger to the world of entertainment, and it didn't seem at all likely that Monobear would be applauded by any of the others. Nevertheless, the little bear bowed to his invisible and possibly nonexistent audience, speaking once again. "Well, _thankyou!_ So nice to see my judgement still holds true. Now, I have to thank the Academy–"

_Get to the point!_ Mioda just about shrieked at him. He was dragging out the explanation quite deliberately; milking the tension for all it was worth. He was enjoying their reactions too much to simply get to the point; the guitarist knew that her own expression at the news of her imminent punishment would have been priceless in itself, and the bear was watching sixteen fairly similar reactions; no–one but those five knew what had gone on that night, so the others probably thought they were somehow responsible as well. On and on the bear went, accepting his self–presented Monokuma Medal with no small amount of fanfare. If he had gone on for much longer, Mioda would have cut loose with a cry of _"Get on with it!"_, but someone else must have done it first – for the bear abruptly stopped mid–speech. He let out a loud sigh, shaking his head sadly, then leaned close to the screen, the applause cutting out with a screech of static that made the guitarist's sensitive ears buzz.

"Fiiiiiine, here's the deal – I'm on a tight schedule! I want some good ol'–fashioned entertainment, and you bastards totally destroyed something very dear to me. I was so fond of my little Monobeast, and if you'd actually left behind any remains, I'd totally have cradled 'em! My bear–tears would have had my furry cousins in uprising! I would have gotten an Emmy! So, so, so, because you guys totally ruined my award opportunity – if no–one _else_ is dead in two days, I'm gonna punish five certain idiots! I've got a reeeeeeeallyyyyyyy great punishment for you all, too, all set up! A real whiz–bang of an execution! Dead sure to win an Emmy!"

The screen went black, and Mioda's mouth felt dry; her knees were shaking. If no–one else acted, she would be executed with five of the people she was trying to save. The only way out was for someone else to take her place, yes, but – what kind of a peace would that leave her with? It certainly wouldn't be the perfect peace that Mioda strove for, with everyone living together in her little dollhouse. Someone would be missing; even if the killer was found and dealt with accordingly, the others would surely grieve, the horrible murder hanging over their heads like the fabled sword of Damocles. Mioda had written a song about that particular weapon, and it hadn't exactly been a pretty one. No, no – she absolutely had to foil each and every attempt on someone's life over the next few days.

That said, Mioda could not allow herself to be executed. There simply could be no peace without her influence; as far as she knew, she was the only person capable of creating such a situation, and the only person capable of standing up to that nefarious mind–reader. There just _had_ to be another way out of the situation, a way that no–one had yet considered; she had abilities that no–one else had, abilities no–one could possibly hope to have, and she was determined to use them to get her desired happy ending. She certainly couldn't murder someone, but she couldn't just lie down and die either.

What if someone _pretended_ to lie down and die, then? The idea admittedly appealed to Mioda – perhaps she could force one of her subjects to play dead, barely breathe and never move. All she needed to do was to get Tsumiki to reveal just how much one's heart and breathing rate needed to be slowed down before the person in question would be dead to the world – but then again, controlling such basic functions wasn't something she'd done before. Would the person who found themselves comatose be able to obey her and wake up exactly when she told them to? Once she had started, did she have to order their every shallow breath, or would they continue to breathe on their own? Mioda might have been a rather practical girl, but she didn't exactly want to find the answer to that one out the hard way, accidentally killing someone as she tried to make them play dead.

And so, as she trotted out the door of her cabin and strolled down the path towards the lodge, the guitarist decided that in order to get some answers to her questions, she would have to experiment throughout the day. There was nothing wrong with experimenting; after all, the kerfuffle last night could have been avoided if only she'd had a better handle on Souda and Tsumiki. They'd panicked pretty much because she had; if only they had just stayed where they were, they would never have become involved in the Koizumi – vs – Monobeast situation, and so Mioda would never have jumped in to protect the slaves she was technically responsible for. If only Koizumi had been left alone to handle the situation, only her life would have been on the line now – still not an easy thing for the guitarist to take, but far easier than simultaneously trying to protect and watch over five people at once–

"I'm gonna kill you!"

And at those ominous words from somewhere within the lodge, Mioda broke into a run.

* * *

><p>Now, Koizumi knew full well that Kuzuryuu didn't <em>really<em> mean what he'd just yelled in Souda's face, that he was regretting it the instant he'd said it, but that didn't make his threat any less disturbing. There was a deathly silence in the restaurant, broken only by Souda's soft whimper, followed by an outright snarl from the gangster. "Do you hear me? This is all your fault, so you're going _down_." Small as he was, the guy was nevertheless backing the mechanic towards the tables, and standing near the door of the restaurant with fresh bandages over her injury, Koizumi was in no position to be doing anything about it. If Souda was to, say, go for one of the kitchen utensils laid out on the tables, disaster was quite literally close at hand; and that wasn't what Koizumi needed at all. Not that she really knew _what _she wanted since that dreadful announcement, but she was sure it didn't involve anyone dying.

A lucky thing, then that the two arguing boys weren't the only ones in the room. At the main table, just behind where Souda was standing, a large, cloth–covered object straightened itself, and sighed, then turned towards the one–sided argument, revealing itself to be Byakuya Togami. The guy stared mournfully one last time at his tower of toast, eggs, and bacon, then as Souda wailed something utterly incomprehensible, decided that he'd heard enough.

"He merely admitted to being one of the five involved," Togami snorted, stepping to the side and then in front of Souda even as he folded his arms; there was nothing but irritation in his mind, irritation adequately reflected in his pose and words. It was almost frightening how precisely he calculated every movement, his every display of emotion carefully gauged, but then again, it _did _mean that he was every bit in control of his actions as he wanted the others to believe. "That does _not _mean he was responsible," he added, and Koizumi guessed there'd be some other time to read the big guy properly; her gaze flickered between the lone heir and the two teens he'd positioned himself between: the crybaby, and the aforementioned crybaby's main attacker.

There wasn't much to be said about Souda, since his head was buried between his knees and he kept glancing towards the nearest food–laden table as though that might help him somehow, but of Kuzuryuu, currently trying to peek around Togami's bulk, there was a great deal to be said. For one thing, the guy seemed to be hell–bent on telling the world that he was absolutely a menace, even if he didn't quite believe that himself. Despite his tiny stature in comparison to Togami, he showed the larger teen no respect whatsoever; he clicked his tongue, glaring about the room in a gesture that looked a good deal more aggressive than it was supposed to look, then strutted forwards. "Then what the hell is it _supposed_ to mean?" he spat in the heir's face. "He's got to be one of the ones that's supposed to already get killed, right? Unless he's even stupider than he looks!"

"I don't look stupid!" protested the pink–haired mechanic in the bright yellow jumpsuit, which definitely didn't look silly at all.

Togami sighed, glancing over his shoulder and reminding himself that he should look very, very disgusted with Souda, but he turned back before the mechanic could lift his head and see it. That odd slip of his mental script admittedly surprised Koizumi, but the heir showed no surprise whatsoever, regarding the gangster with nothing but calmness. "Perhaps he is," he said, "but perhaps he is not. I do not think we will be receiving much of an answer from him, however. Wouldn't you agree?"

"If you'd let me at him," hissed Kuzuryuu, "then I'd have him _talking_, all right–!" Several images flashed into Koizumi's mind of just what he was thinking of doing, and she cringed; they weren't pretty.

"You're not going to extort him!" she snapped, stalking over from where she had been watching the little fight, a few metres away from the restaurant's doorway. Togami looked mildly surprised at her entrance, and Kuzuryuu's venom was quite suddenly directed at her instead of the mechanic. "This isn't some criminal underworld fantasy of yours, okay? We're trapped together on this island, so–"

"Here comes the fuckin' pep talk!" the gangster growled. "And I suppose _you_ want your peaceful desert island fantasy, right? Don't you go lecturing me, hypocrite!" He took a deep breath, then went on, his voice dropping to a quiet hiss that rattled Koizumi far more than his shouting ever had. "Where I come from, extorting is perfectly normal. So, you had better keep a close eye on Crybaby over there, 'cos otherwise you're gonna peek in one day and–"

"Did someone say _exorcism?_"

And just like that, the dramatic tension was utterly ruined by possibly the most dramatic person on the island, Gundam Tanaka. He had decided to stand smack–bang in the middle of the doorway, the morning sun making his shadow long, and the morning breeze making his purple scarf flap menacingly. Or, at least – that _would _have been menacing, had not three hamsters been clinging onto the ends. It took him a while to notice that his pets were ruining the whole 'menacing' thing – and the resulting scramble to get them back inside his scarf wasn't exactly menacing, either.

"A–are you mortals _deaf_, now?" he said, hurriedly cramming two tiny balls of fluff into the folds around his neck and reaching for a third, glaring about the room as though the occupants had somehow been responsible for the hamster disaster. "However, my understanding is that my earlier question was merely a test of your intelligence! I know, for one, that my many ears cannot have deceived me! With ten ears did I hear that _yes_, an exorcism is definitely required!"

And so, with great strides that set his scarf trailing behind him, Tanaka crossed the room and closed on Souda, who was currently curled up in a ball on the floor. Togami and Kuzuryuu exchanged looks of resignation and got out of the way of the wannabe exorcist, the former returning to his tower of a breakfast while the latter decided to go and sulk in a corner, his back to the others. "Greetings, foul demon!" Tanaka boomed, and Souda clapped his hands over his ears almost immediately. "I, Gundam Tanaka, Ascendant Lord of Ice, Servant to the Mighty Four Dark Gods of Destruction, will now proceed to claim your vile powers for my own use! Your power level cannot come anywhere near that which my Four Dark Ones bear, for their true form is beyond comprehending! Quake before the wrath which you have brought upon yourself, by infesting this ridiculous excuse of a human! Enter this mighty vessel, that pure darkness may be channeled forth– "

Koizumi tuned out somewhere around that point; for all his bravado, volume, and general theatrics, Tanaka wasn't about to get any sort of demon out of Souda any time soon. Nor was he about to undo the brainwashing that presumably was keeping the guy's thoughts hidden from her – that was _her _job, not his.

_Possessed, indeed_, the photographer thought, wondering if Tanaka actually believed that –and then realizing with a jolt that she didn't know_._ She _should _have known, should have picked up on the answer as soon as Tanaka had glared around the room, as soon as he'd brushed against her on his way to Souda, but she hadn't heard a was a small chance that he was one of those resistant ones the book had mentioned, but – no, they were probably both brainwashed, putting on an ironic little show for the mastermind. The idea made her sick to the stomach; just how far was the puppetmaster going to go with this? Were they watching the whole thing, laughing to themselves?

The photographer turned away in disgust – just in time to catch Mioda and Tsumiki in the doorway. The nurse was doing the usual cringing routine, her mind well and truly in the grip of someone else, though her current position only seemed to be held by the guitarist standing behind her. However, at least she _looked _like regular Tsumiki, which was more than could be said for Mioda – the guitarist's head was tilted to the side in the fashion of a somewhat confused dog, but a smirk pulled at her lip, and her shoulders shook with silent laughter. It was only for a moment –the girl caught Koizumi's eye almost immediately and looked away, making her way into the restaurant – but it was _enough_.

Koizumi watched her like a hawk from then on. Of everyone in the room, the guitarist must have been closest to the mastermind, to have that sort of reaction. Therefore, Mioda was in the most need of rescue – she might actually be able to tell the photographer who the mastermind was, or at least give her a clue. Heck, she might even be able to give Koizumi a clue _now_; Mioda was pretty strong–willed, surely she was fighting the brainwashing right now. Every one of her ridiculous statements could contain some sort of clue–

"Oooh, Byakuya–chan's got a real tower today!" Mioda commented, hopping over to where Togami had managed to gather onto his plate what Koizumi estimated to be half the table's worth of food. "Ibuki hopes it's not compensating for anything, 'mmmmn?"

And as Togami gagged and Souda decided to take a break from screaming at Tanaka and snicker his way instead, Koizumi decided to remind herself that Mioda's statements were earlier described as _'ridiculous'_ for a reason.


	8. Chapter Seven: The Other Announcement

**A/N: **I really, really needed to fiddle with some logistics concerning something that happens in a later chapter, so this was on the late side! Hope you all enjoy it anyway. :D

* * *

><p>Okay, so Mioda admittedly got sidetracked from her mission to Find Out Who Just Yelled That Thing About Killing Someone two seconds into her beginning it. That wasn't <em>entirely <em>her fault; Tsumiki had all but sprang in front of her, and they'd ended up tangled on the ground. "I–I'm so s–sorry!" she was wailing, even as she struggled with all her might to get up; which of course only made the situation worse. Several times, Mioda's legs were kicked out from under her by the nurse's thrashing, and it wasn't like she could order the other girl to just _stop_. Yes, Tsumiki was still brainwashed, but what if someone saw the nurse taking her orders? That'd definitely look weird, and after what had gone down last night, the guitarist didn't need anyone becoming any more suspicious of her. Then again, two girls all but fighting on the ground had to look odd – if not somewhat attractive. They were, after all, struggling on the ground in short skirts, with Mioda pinned in a very compromising way under the sobbing, constantly apologizing nurse; both of them trying to get up despite the guitarist's left leg being entangled in the unwinding bandages of Tsumiki's right leg. Honestly, if this wasn't going to be seen by some passing bloke as even a little bit fanservice–y, Mioda was going to put on her very best surprised face when she walked into the restaurant–

"Ooooh! Might this be a spot of mud–wrestling, minus the mud? A wise choice – the view from here is _stellar._"

_Of course._

Perhaps Hanamura had some sort of radar for finding girls in embarrassing positions, or maybe he'd just heard the scuffle and come out to have a look. Either way, there he was, leaning daintily over the rail of his cabin's porch to peer down at the two girls, both frozen in shock. His head was cocked to one side, and Mioda was dead sure she could see a little blood running from his nose. "I _do_ like the morning show!" he added, and the guitarist cut loose with a shriek loud enough to cause Tsumiki to spring off her, losing her leg–bandage in the process.

"Aaaaaack! D–don't look at me, Hanamura–! It's s–so _embarrassing!_" she yowled, covering her face with both hands. Mioda got up without a word, quietly ordering Tsumiki to run to the hotel's restaurant and make sure no–one had died there. It was a struggle – the nurse, after all, just wanted to curl up into a small ball of embarrassment and sob for all eternity – but with some nudging, Tsumiki hesitated for a few seconds, trembling from head to toe, before she abruptly grabbed Mioda's hand, then turned and fled towards the hotel. Caught off guard by her sudden act of semi–independence, the guitarist was dragged several metres from her dream of brainwashing the chef to cook her all the food she ever wanted. She struggled against the nurse at first, then remembered that yes, that _had _been a death threat two minutes ago, and she really should get over there before anyone got more hurt than they likely already were. At the thought, Mioda broke into a sprint; and now it was Tsumiki who was getting dragged along behind.

As it was, the two of them made it up the steps just as Tanaka really got into his speech, and so the first thing Mioda saw was the trainer towering over Souda, making large and goofy gestures with his arms. "I, Gundam Tanaka," he proclaimed, and then he took a breath – "Ascendant Lord of Ice, Servant to the Mighty Four Dark Gods of Destruction, will now proceed to claim your vile powers for my own use!" He took another deep, dramatic, breath, echoing over and over in the quiet of the restaurant, and it was all Mioda could do to keep her giggles silent. She couldn't always understand what Tanaka was saying, no, but from the sound of it – was he saying that the mechanic was somehow _possessed? _Oh, if only he knew that the mechanic was indeed under someone's sway; but not that of a demon. A harmless school–girl was in control of the guy's actions – and okay, so the aforementioned school–girl _was_ now half–tempted to force Souda to act like the Crown Prince of Demons, but that still didn't make Mioda comparable to a creature of the fiery underworld.

"Your power level cannot come anywhere near that which my Four Dark Ones bear, for their true form is beyond comprehending! Quake before the wrath which you have brought upon yourself, by infesting this ridiculous excuse of a human! Enter this mighty vessel, that pure darkness may be channeled forth, that your blight upon this realm may become a plague, that you and I may rule this icy world with you!"

Mioda stopped listening somewhere around that point, but only because she might explode from the effort of holding her giggles in. As it was, her shoulders were shaking, and she couldn't keep herself from smiling, though no–one seemed to have noticed her and Tsumiki in the doorway just yet. Oh, if only Tanaka knew the truth – gosh, his _face _would have been priceless. Maybe when all this was over, she'd tell him, just to see how he'd react–

_Ah, Mahiru–chan's looking at me!_

It was the hardest thing she'd done since facing down the Monobeast last night, but Mioda managed to swallow back her snickering, walk across the room as though nothing had happened, and then engage Togami in some witty repartee. "Oooh, Byakuya–chan's got a real tower today! Ibuki hopes it's not compensating for anything, 'mmmmn?" she began, and Togami merely grunted reply. The guitarist was nothing if not persistent however, and so made further remarks – but unfortunately, the resulting monologue contained so many entendres that it really cannot be printed here. Suffice to say, then, that she was as blunt about her flirting as ever; flirty enough to have Tanaka stop mid–speech _and_ have Koizumi burying her face in her hands. Surely, surely, if people were reacting like that, it meant that Togami, despite all appearances, _had_ to be rattled.

And if the young heir was rattled, then maybe if she pushed him a little further, he might actually show it. Oh, and – of course, if she managed to rattle him enough, then _after_ she had saved four people from an awful punishment they didn't deserve at all, she'd set her sights quite firmly on brainwashing him. Sure, she'd only meant to tease him at first, and that's all it had really been about, but – the sooner she got the majority under her command, all the better, right? And surely Togami was someone who she'd have to plan and prepare for.

Then again – Hinata _was _now glaring at her from the doorway; there was something in his stare that was serious enough to make her back off Togami and wave to the other guy instead. It wasn't like he could have possibly remembered what happened on the beach last night, but all the same – Mioda figured she might as well play it careful for now.

"Hey, Hajime–chaaaan!" she chattered, bounding over to him. Much to her irritation, the guy only seemed to be half–brainwashed, not about to completely obey her, but not about to ignore her commands, either. That could be fixed easily enough, she figured; she'd have to do it when she was practicing for the fake death. It would be for his own good, after all – Hinata needed to obey her for everything to go according to the plan that was slowly forming in her head, but if Mioda succeeded, he and the other three involved would surely be safe from whatever punishment Monobear had set up. "Did he have a good night's sleep?"

There was a loud sigh of relief from everyone else in the room at the guitarist's finally saying something that wasn't dirty, but she chose to ignore it in favor of listening to Hinata's mumble. "We need to talk", he said, so softly that Mioda was sure she was the only person who could have heard it. There was no venom in his voice, not that she could pick up anyway; but there wasn't exactly any excitement or joy in it either. Honestly, he'd said it as though he'd been asking a teacher for a quick chat after class, and Mioda couldn't tell whether that was a good or a bad thing. So, she hesitated, and then she nodded; a slight movement, more a inclining of her head than anything else, but it was still there.

"Me? Oh, I slept like a log", Hinata said in a voice that the rest of the room could actually hear, and took her hand, leading her back into the room. "So, uh – does anyone have any idea what to do now? What Monobear said… I mean, it didn't sound good."

Togami nodded briskly, adjusting his glasses with one finger. "I have a plan. What we must do is–"

"I think it would be best to wait until the others arrive. That way, everyone gets the same explanation." Koizumi, of course, but Mioda threw her a curious look anyway – only to find that the redhead was staring at her. _Why, _she had no idea; there was something like an accusation in that gaze, though she'd be darned if she knew what exactly it was. The guitarist shrugged and looked away, happy that their gazes somehow hadn't become locked despite there being a good few seconds of eye contact – the last thing Mioda needed was to have an accidental brainwashing demonstration right there, in front of Togami and Kuzuryuu and Hinata _and _Gundam, perhaps the most vocal group of people on the island. When the guitarist had properly figured out how this whole mechanic worked, then she'd be sure to seek out Koizumi alone; for now, the photographer was off limits.

"Uh, whatever Mahiru–chan says–?"

"I can't take this", Koizumi murmured, then raised her voice. "Hey, Mioda – we need to talk outside. Just for a minute, okay?"

One minute. If she was quick, and she focused her hardest, that's all it would take. Tempting; very, _very_ tempting. After all – if it didn't work, she had nothing to lose. One minute – that was something of a challenge to Mioda. Could she really brainwash someone so strong–willed in a single minute? There was only one way to find out, and since she didn't exactly stand to lose anything so long as she made sure they were alone, she nodded, meeting the photographer's gaze. One minute, a challenge well and truly accepted – and before she could answer properly, Togami had folded his arms, clicked his tongue. "Tch… That is one minute too long. I thought you wanted everyone _together,_ Koizumi?"

"It's only a minute–!" the photographer began, but the young heir wasn't having any of it.

"A minute too long, and that is that. You may converse all you want _after _I have explained what is to happen." Koizumi glared hard at him, presumably about to argue, but then changed her mind and took a step back, deciding to glare at Mioda instead. The guitarist returned the glare with ease, until it became a full–on staring match, and she started to feel queasy. Sick, even; little spots were dancing in the corner of her vision, and she felt very light–headed. Was this how normally you felt if you stared at someone for too long–?

Togami's bulk came between them, a rather effective way of stopping the miniature war that was going on right under his nose. Instantly, the strange, sick feeling was gone. Though Mioda chalked it down to the island's tropical heat, and fervently wished that she could have _made_ him give her a minute with Koizumi, the heir completely ignored her pleading look, choosing instead to frown over at Hinata. "Hmmm… You skinny people should make more use of those legs you like to boast about. Run to all the cabins. Bring everyone here, no matter how unwilling they are. At this rate, my second helping will go cold."

Hinata frowned, but trudged towards the door anyway. With a little mental poking from Mioda, he then proceeded to bolt as though some demonic creature was at his heels, probably one that Tanaka would be all too happy to elaborate on, if he wasn't still standing over Souda and lecturing him. Togami cocked an eyebrow at the sudden sprinting, but said nothing, instead turning his back on the two girls and going back to the table to eat.

* * *

><p>The others piled in one by one, and Koizumi couldn't help but shift nervously from foot to foot. First came her accidental impulsive decision to try and get Mioda un–brainwashed already, a surely–very–bad–decision for both her sanity <em>and <em>for whatever weird, messed–up situation she was in. Yes, the girl was a sorry sight, but Koizumi just couldn't do anything like that in the future; a move like that could be fatal in this odd game of chess. The staring match she'd had with the girl hadn't ended well, either; Koizumi had felt sick to her stomach after a few seconds. The brainwasher must have done something to stop her getting at Mioda, which was understandable if she really had valuable information about them – but until she got hold of that book again, the photographer wasn't going to get at her main target just yet.

Then, after the staring contest, Hinata's fairly active mind had gone dead just before he'd sprinted out the door. Could the mastermind somehow control people to make them look like they _were _thinking normally? If so, Koizumi didn't fancy her own chances of survival – she would have no idea who was friend and who was under the sway of the foe.

And now, to top it all off, Togami was refusing to answer the big question of what he _did _have in mind to keep everyone alive. Maybe he didn't have anything, and admittedly the photographer couldn't see a way out; either someone had to die, or five would die a pretty undeserving death. Then again – she had heard that the Togami line was in fact a line of hoity–toity geniuses, so if anyone here would be able to save her and the other four without losing a life along the way, it would be him. Koizumi was both eager and terrified to hear his plan, and had admittedly tried to read his mind earlier as he ate, get some idea of what he wanted. But – as hard as she'd tried to read him, he'd kept his thoughts sternly trained on his food, and the photographer wasn't interested in anything he had to say about _that_.

"So, about this plan of yours–"

She was hoping Togami would think about that if he mentioned it, but he cut her off with a grunt and a curt shake of the head. "We–" he mumbled, then swallowed and straightened – "are not going to discuss this until after the others get here. What does it take for you to understand such a simple concept?"

The mind–reader sighed. "I wasn't going to ask for details. I was just wondering if… if you really think that whatever it is will work?" she tried, searching his mind for clues relating to the plan. None were to be found, since it seemed that Togami lived in the present only, thinking only things that needed to be thought about _right now_. For instance – he was currently thinking about how irritating it was for someone such as himself to be called away from his breakfast for such an asinine question.

"How irritating it is, for one such as I to be called away from my breakfast for such an asinine question!" Togami growled, and Koizumi blinked in some confusion; the others she'd mind–read didn't think out their exact wording like that. Togami was evidently planning out his every word, but why pay such close attention?

_Perhaps he's the mastermind…_

After all – she wasn't supposed to be able to read the brainwasher, but that didn't necessarily mean that they had to have a lack of _thoughts – _just a very guarded, very focused mind. And Togami was now the person who with this plan of his, could hold them all in the palm of his hand. Koizumi knew nothing about how brainwashing worked, but – Mioda, Souda, Tsumiki, and Hinata would all grateful if he was to save their lives with his plan, and grateful slaves would be happier slaves.

"…Koizumi, that _does _mean you should reply in a timely fashion. Otherwise, you will further displease–"

"All right, _all right!" _the photographer snapped. "Stay calm already. I _was _going to try and think up a decent answer, but – yeah, I guess you're as sure of your plan as ever. Shouldn't have asked."

"Keep that up, and I might not tell you about the plan at _all_", Togami huffed, turning back to his food; and he answered no further questions or comments after that. All Koizumi could do was wait, though thankfully that wasn't long. The rest were for the most part already here, and Tanaka was finishing off his lecture and stalking off to sulk in a corner at the reluctance of Souda's demon to leave its host. Without his constant background yelling, the place went into a sort of expectant quiet - and when Hinata finally carried a fainted Hanamura (still bleeding from the nose, of _course_) into the restaurant and deposited him on the floor, poking the chef with his shoe until his eyes were open, the heir took that as a cue to begin. Dabbing a handkerchief to his face, Togami carefully wiped a mixture of toast crumbs and bacon from his mouth, then stalked into the middle of the room, glared about himself, and began.

"My… acquaintances. Soon to be my friends, perhaps, but for now you are merely acquaintances." Here, he paused to glare at Koizumi, which would have been pretty intimidating had the photographer not instantly known about the image he had in his head. She'd heard that one thing to do when you were a nervous speaker was to imagine that your audience was naked, and thankfully Togami wasn't thinking_ that_, but he was drawing off a pretty darn goofy image for reasons she guessed were related to his feeling comfortable speaking. There, in the confines of his own head, was a clear image of the heir from a few years ago, standing on a stage in a big, ill–fitting knitted sweater, pausing before a huge crowd as they waited with bated breath to hear the rest of his monologue. He had worked all year to perfect this–

_Wait, what–? Why would _Togami _be giving a–_

The heir broke eye contact, and the presumably fictitious image was gone, leaving Koizumi to stand dumbfounded as he continued on. "My understanding is that some of you may soon be leaving us, and I would like to get to know all of you before that sad day comes. In fact… I think we all need to understand each other much better. So, for that reason, I will be throwing a party tonight, in the old lodge."

At this, murmurs of excitement bubbled through the chattier people in the group, and as Koizumi looked around, she saw people's minds racing. Sonia was already planning out what she would say for the opening speech, Souda was trying to figure out how to court someone at the party, and Saionji was of course plotting to add laxatives to the food if ever she got the chance. Not that Koizumi reckoned she _would_ – the spread Hanamura was now dreaming up looked to be enormous – but the photographer made a mental note to watch the dancer anyway.

"Ah, but that place is almost as filthy as me!" Komaeda exclaimed over the noise, and the heir nodded sagely.

"That is exactly why I will be cleaning it. If I undertake this task, nothing will – shall we say, _happen_ during the event."

Komaeda's expression didn't change, but on the inside he was kicking himself – why _exactly_, Koizumi didn't know. The main reason was already buried underneath enough negative comments to sink a ship."I see. But – we'll need someone to guard the entrance, won't we? To stop Monobear from getting in."

"Of course", the heir replied, pushing back his glasses with a finger. "We will also need someone to guard the office, where the circuit breakers are kept, lest some misfit tries to turn off the lights. Oh, and – the storeroom will need to be carefully watched. It will take too much time to clear the main floor of the lodge itself for me to move all those shelves from the storeroom, and I'm not going to have anyone fall over during this– this party."

"Then I'll guard the storeroom!" Komaeda smiled, bobbing his head politely to Togami, but Koizumi barely registered it; what the heir had almost said instead of _'party'_ had left her reeling. It was a horrible, horrible thought – only two words long – but it nevertheless left her speechless. She didn't intervene as Pekoyama offered to guard the office and Nanami the entrance; didn't so much as speak up against Hanamura's meat–related comments as the chef tried to start talking Togami through the possible menu for that night. When the main conversation was clearly over, the details had been sorted out and most of the group was either talking to each other, eating breakfast themselves, or quietly seeing themselves out, the photographer was one of the first to leave the restaurant–

–where she promptly burst into tears, because it looked like the mastermind was finally making their move to leave the island, they were going to kill someone, and there was nothing she could do about it. The photographer sprinted from the hotel, sobbing as quietly as she could, every inch of her wanting to just scream.

_I'm not going to have anyone fall over during this… this… final supper._

And given that her and the other four involved in the thing last night had _two _days of suppers left, not one, there was only one way Byakuya Togami could have known that this was to be the _'final supper'_.


	9. Chapter Eight: Oh, The Feels

**A/N**: Author's uploading this pretty much back-to-back with the last chapter, because there was rather a long wait last time, gotta pay it back somehow. But... yeah, I'm gonna have to warn for feels. Lots of feels. Very upsetting feels. To me, this whole chapter is one long feel.

* * *

><p>Mioda, curious to see if Koizumi wanted to continue things outside, waited only a few seconds after her departure before trotting outside herself, blinking in the sun. Not that she'd known Koizumi long, but it wasn't like the photographer to shy away from some possible position of responsibility–<p>

–definitely wasn't like her to _run_, either, but there she was, bolting from the restaurant. Watching her from the outside stairs of the hotel, Mioda couldn't help but frown – no, that wasn't like Koizumi at all. For someone so hell–bent on being logical, her move just didn't make any sense; not with an injury, not after last night – surely by now, she'd have learned something about running with all those bandages. The musician bit her lip, thinking carefully whether she wanted to follow the other girl. Yes, it would give her less time to work things out with the whole fake–death thing, but she had all of tomorrow to use. What if Koizumi ended up hurting herself even more, or worse still – what if she somehow ended up dead, with Mioda the last person to have seen her, to have maybe helped her out? She'd almost gotten killed last night, so it wasn't _completely_ out of the question – and Mioda didn't think she could live with that, so she took the steps two at a time and charged after the other girl.

"Ummm… Is Mahiru–chan going all Nekomaru–chan on Ibuki, now? Ibuki hopes it's not contagious, 'cos she's only got enough energy for like… Two spirited people, tops? C'moooon, slow down for at least as long as it takes Ibuki to catch up, then she can decide who's 'it' with Mahiru–chan!"

Koizumi didn't have the musician's hearing, of course, but Mioda was pretty loud when she was shouting. The photographer stumbled to a halt, glancing over her shoulder, and–

–started running?

_Again?_

She heard a shout from somewhere behind her, but right now Mioda just didn't care at all about any of what was going on back there. Right now, she needed to stop Koizumi from potentially getting herself killed over Whatever It Was, and so she ignored everything else in favour of barreling after the photographer once again. "Ibuki's going for a sprint, okay? Okay! Bye, Teruteru–chan and Hajime–chan and Byakuya–chan and Akane–chan and Kazuichi–chan and Gundam–chan and Nagito–chan and– heh, they probably can't hear Ibuki now. But, Mahiru–chan… Hey, Mahiru–chan–!"

Koizumi only broke out into as best a sprint as she could, which was admittedly pretty slow given her injury. Not particularly wanting to end up with a heart attack on her hands, Mioda put her head down and ran her hardest, closing the distance between them.

"Mahiru–chan?" she asked, slowing down to a jog at Koizumi's side. "What's up? _Or_, as Ibuki likes to say, whassu–"

"Y–you already _know!_" came the reply, in between little gasps for breath. The red–head rested for a moment with her hands on her knees, staring up at Mioda as though "Or… maybe you don't. Yeah… Actually, you probably don't. Just… forget I ever said anything, okay?"

She turned on her heel and walked away – and though she was trembling when she did it, and it was really more of a stagger than a walk, it still screamed _rejection_. Mioda blinked, then shrugged, and went trotting after her. "But Mahiru–chaaan, today's opposite day! Ibuki'll never forget this! But, then she's never gonna be able to sleep, wondering whether or not she knew, soooo… Mahiru–chan's gotta tell Ibuki what's wrong, mmm-hmmm? Then Ibuki'll think _really hard_ about it, she'll strike a pose like this, or this, or even this, and then if she remembers that Mahiru–chan already told Ibuki whatever it was, then–"

Koizumi looked over her shoulder, she _glared_, and Mioda decided that there was something awfully interesting about her shoes. She only dared move when she heard the click of the photographer's tongue, and the sniffling was a little further away from her than it had been before. "C'moooon," she pleaded, "or Mahiru–chan won't be able to sleep either! Just tell Ibuki, or she and Mahiru–chan'll both be creatures of the night before long! Howling at the moon! Staring at hot guys in their sleep! Maybe even _hugging _hot guys! Who knows?"

Koizumi stopped, and when she next spoke, Mioda was well aware that it was through gritted teeth. "What do I have to make you leave me alone?"

"Ibuki doesn't want to be hugging hotties_ all_ night, sooooo Mahiru–chan had better tell her what she thinks Ibuki might or might not know! Um – not that Ibuki phrased that very well, but she could totally try again! Okay, so take two–"

"I get it, I get it," Koizumi said, and then she suddenly turned back to Mioda in a display that would have been intimidating, had she not been wiping away a few errant tears with the back of her hand as she did so. "Do you know that Togami's planning on killing someone tonight?"

"H–he's _what?!_" Mioda blurted, still somehow managing to speak despite the shock being enough to have her whole body going stiff for the second time that day. Togami? Going to kill someone? Tonight? Was that _really_ what he'd set up the whole party thing? Mioda could have sworn that he was much stronger–willed than that. No – Togami just _giving in _to Monobear's desires wasn't right at all. He was the big protector of the group, wasn't he?

Wasn't he?

_But even if he's not… Why did he tell Mahiru–chan that he was planning…? _

Was he trying to goad someone into killing? Was he trying to raise the stakes of the party, so that he could pretend that he was doing a good thing by protecting everyone? Was he perhaps seriously messed up, going to kill someone no matter what, and had just decided that he didn't care who knew it? Or had he been warned someone was going to die, and Koizumi had just taken it the wrong way? Try as she might, Mioda couldn't find answers to any of these questions; and aside from perhaps brainwashing Togami, there was no way to get them. She started yelling then, before she even knew what she was doing; yelling half at Koizumi and half at her own doubts and worst fears: "Th–there's no way! Byakuya–chan couldn't have… He _wouldn't!_ He didn't even tell Ibuki first! Wh–why would he–? Ibuki had no idea at all, Byakuya–chan's so sweet to start off with–!"

Koizumi only shook her head, tearing up all over again. "Y–You're joking. No, worse – you're _acting_." Mioda gave the girl a decidedly confused look, and the photographer sighed, though it ended up in two halves due to her choking back a sob in the middle. "You… didn't know what he was planning until now? You, of all people? _Really?_"

Had the musician's display earlier today been _that _dirty?

"Hey! Ibuki might be close to Byakuya–chan, maybe even cuddle–close, but she's not _that_ close!" Here, Mioda made a huge sweeping gesture, which would have looked impressive had it not been Mioda doing it, and went on: "But if Byakuya–chan's really going to do _that_, Ibuki's not gonna be close with him until he's apologized for telling Mahiru–chan that! In fact, Ibuki'll be so far away, she's not gonna _hear _his apology until he's said it a thousand and one times!"

"How about _stopping_ him, instead of just running off?" Koizumi snapped, trying to look as matter–of–fact as possible, then apparently deciding that her composure couldn't be kept up when she was still crying. Before Mioda could answer, the photographer had hunched over, wiping at her tears again as she repeated her earlier words. "C–come _on_…" she whimpered, and there was a definite sob before she went on: "H–how about stopping him? Or are you j–just going to run off, n–now… now you've got what you wanted–!"

There was something like a plea this time round, and that didn't really make sense – why would Koizumi _doubt_ that Mioda would help her stop a murder in its tracks? That would be expected if the musician had been a nasty person, or if she was still a total stranger. But, Mioda wasn't at all nasty – heck, she'd saved the photographer's life last night. So, why was the photographer so doubtful? This was no time to be doubting. What if Togami was already on the move? He was nothing if not efficient – if the plot was already in motion, they had to get at it before something awful happened!

"H–hey!" Mioda blinked, throwing an arm around Koizumi's shoulders. "Of_ course_ Ibuki'll help Mahiru–chan! Ibuki helped Mahiru–chan last night, and it was all super–life–threatening–stuff, sooooo why not now? Or tomorrow, or the day after that, or in like three months when this is all over–"

Never before had the guitarist been forced to stop speaking by someone trying to squeeze the everlasting daylights out of them, but she figured there was a first time for everything.

* * *

><p><em>She's resistant.<em>

Never before had Koizumi been so glad to find out that magic hogwash could provide an actual happy conclusion to the whole Mioda problem, but _there you go._ So long as Togami was the mastermind who was perhaps even now getting ready to kill someone – yes, Mioda had to be resistant to not be readable and at the same time not allow Togami to have his way. It wasn't like the photographer hadn't been warned about those sorts of people, just that she hadn't believed it at the time, and hadn't been forced to pay attention to it until now. It explained so much – why she hadn't been able to read the musician the day after all this ridiculous stuff had happened, why Mioda had saved her last night, why she had acted _on_ _her own impulse_ to accidentally cause this whole stupid scenario.

She wanted to apologize to Mioda, for thinking she was somehow brainwashed and desperately needed to be saved, for taking her laughter earlier as something other than snickering at the stupid position Souda and Tanaka had been in, but she couldn't find the words to do it. She wanted to apologize for ever doubting the possibly least logical person of the group, and she wanted to tell her sorry over and over for thinking far too much on how to 'help' someone who just didn't need it. But – no, she had no words, and didn't have the heart to think of any – if she did, she'd have to tell Mioda all about the situation, and Koizumi still couldn't bring herself to do that. She had her own battle to fight here; she could tell the musician all about it when it was over.

And so, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, a quiet "Thank you" was all she managed. Mioda's reply was to wriggle out of the embrace, though only so she could return the hug.

"The thanks are all from Ibuki, really!" she chirped, though it was admittedly a somewhat muffled by Koizumi's shoulder; she laughed then, and the photographer could feel the vibrations. Koizumi shuddered at the tickling, and Mioda brought her head up to rest on her shoulder instead, humming some vague tune or other before she spoke again. "Thanks to Mahiru–chan, Byakuya–chan's not going to get away! Okay? He hasn't got a snowflake's chance, Mahiru–chan'll see!"

There was no way to tell if she was serious about any of that, but Koizumi didn't mind not being able to tell in the least. Talking to Mioda was almost _normal_; there was no overly long delay as there tended to be with the brainwashed, and not being able to read the other girl was something that reminded her of the days before all this trouble with the whole book thing. She stayed in the hug for what seemed like an age, and Mioda seemed to understand it enough to shut up during that time; leaving her with only the sounds of the birds and the sea, the occasional the rustle of fabric as their chests rose and fell. Slowly, slowly, she began to calm – the tears were still there, but her breathing became more regular.

"We should be able to stop him", the photographer nodded when she figured that she could talk without sobbing or gasping, stepping back to face her new accomplice."My guess is that he'll do something at the party."

"What, with everyone there_ and _Nagito–chan and Peko–chan guarding those two rooms? That's pretty daring, Mahiru–chaaaaan! Totally Byakura–chan's style, though." Mioda's brow furrowed, and before Koizumi could agree with what she had just said, she asked the one question Koizumi had hoped she wouldn't. "But… Um, why would Byakuya–chan tell Mahiru–chan in the first place? Liiiiike, Ibuki would _totally _tell someone if she was going to try something super–daringly–awful like that, but that's kinda dumb by Byakuya–chan's standards!"

She took a breath then, and the photographer darted in before Mioda could think of anything more to say on the matter. At this rate, the guitarist might talk herself out of helping Koizumi, and that wasn't something she wanted to happen. "Look, does it really matter _why _he told me what he was thinking of doing?"

"Uh, Mahiru–chan?"

Koizumi sighed, wiping away her tears yet again. She admittedly relished the near–silence this got despite being in Mioda's presence, but she _had _to answer the other girl's question; the musician wasn't going to be prompted to tell her whatever she thought was wrong otherwise. "What is it?"

The guitarist cocked her head to one side in a fashion Koizumi thought was only reserved for puppies, and rushed straight into her little speech. "When someone's excuses are so bad that _Ibuki _can see through them–"

"Okay, okay – I don't want to talk about it, then!" the photographer growled over the top of her, and Mioda fell silent, eyes wide. Even if Mioda's stare didn't _already_ make her feel sick, it would have made Koizumi sick to the stomach anyway, so disgusted she was at herself. What was she doing, keeping secrets like this? "I mean… I _meant–!_" she tried again, but it was impossible to keep her voice from rising – she didn't _want _Mioda to get involved in all this supernatural stuff, didn't want anyone involved – it was none of the guitarist's business, anyway!

"Ehhh? What's Mahiru mean by saying she's mean? Um, Ibuki means… Heh, _aside _from the obvi–"

"Isn't my saying he's planning on killing someone _enough _of a warning for you? What do you need, a ruddy great sign and a television announcement?! A whole crowd yelling it? It's not like I'm asking for you to _kill him first_ or something!" At this, the guitarist cringed back, and Koizumi took a nice, deep breath before she went on, trying hard to keep herself from yelling again. "Look – all we need to do is make sure that least one of us is watching him the whole time. I mean… There's not much he can do in front of us, right?"

_Aside from killing us… No, I should know if he ever thinks about doing that. I can get both us away from him if he decides that we're the targets._

_…Hopefully._

"Aside from killing us, Mahiru–chaaan! After all, he's gonna kill someone tonight! Soooo, it could be _anyone_, even Mahi–"

"Don't be stupid, Mioda!" Koizumi barked. "Why would have he told me if he was planning to kill me? Gives me an awful lot of time to think about how I'm going to avoid it, doesn't it?"

Mioda bit her lip, and once actually seemed to _think_ about this. "Naaaaaaaaah… Nope, nada, non, nopity–nope–nope! 'Cos – if Byakuya–chan told Mahiru–chan, he must be aiming at her, mm–hmmm? He'll give Mahiru–chan a chance to get away and all, but she's gotta use her time to try and outwit him!"

"I don't think Togami's really into the _games_, Mioda."

"Theeeeeeen, why'd he tell Mahiru–chan in the first pla–"

"You _know_ I would have told you by now if I could have told you!" Koizumi snapped, despite having technically brought this repeat of the original question upon herself. "Maybe we'll get an answer out of him if we catch him in the act, I don't know! We don't have a whole lot of time, so – are you going to help me or not?"

"Of course, Mahiru–chan! Or – uhhhh, so long as Ibuki doesn't have to bury any bodies? Because, this one time, Ibuki got into this deal with this hot guy, and–"

"When exactly did I mention anything about– _No_, I don't want to know. "

And with that, Koizumi _did_ turn and start walking again, but at least it was back towards the hotel she'd run from, and at least there was something of a smile pulling at her lip.

* * *

><p><strong>AN (yes, again): **Some people like to try and sum up fics, when they're doing cool things like spreading the word and all. So, here is the _true, official_ summing up of the plot of my fic. It is _very_ coherent, and _absolutely_ should be used by anyone who made it this far and still likes the thing.

It reads thus: A book goes after Koizumi, then Mioda goes after whichever male on the island happens to be there at the time, then Koizumi goes after Tsumiki, then considers Nidai, then continues to go after Tsumiki, but now it turns out she's going after a Monobeast instead. The Monobeast goes after Koizumi, then after Tsumiki and Souda as well, then Mioda and Hinata go after everyone the Monobeast is going after, then Koizumi goes after Mioda, Hinata goes after Mioda too, and the readership decides to dogpile and suddenly a lot of people are going after Mioda. Mioda's counterattack involves going after Koizumi, but then they somehow both end up going together after Togami, and then–

How this is neither porn, some rendition of Hunger Games, nor on wtffanfiction, I really don't know.


	10. Chapter 9: Halp, Halp (UPDATED)

**A/N: **Updated! First section remains exactly the same; the Hinata section was a beta section, and has been heavily changed since then. Still gotta warn for some very, _very _strange stuff that goes down in the second section, however; the fic basically takes an acid trip for an extended time.

* * *

><p>They split up after that, each going their own way to try and prepare their best for the party tonight. Koizumi had been a little apprehensive about it, and had taken some convincing – but Mioda was more than happy to let the photographer rest up in preparation for the night ahead. It let her work alone, and left her methods unquestioned.<p>

Checking in on the lodge, she found Togami already hard at work, scrubbing at the floors with a mop. Now, Mioda admittedly considered brainwashing him so that the night would go well, but he kept his back to her while she stood in the doorway, not responding at all to her multiple greetings until she'd gotten to somewhere around forty–boring–ol'–heirs–on–the–wall. Then, he did turn to her, but only to growl at her:

"Mioda, don't you have someone _else _to bother? Leave me and my preparations alone, or you will be left out of the party!"

There was to be no _c'mons _answered, no _whys_ or even _awwwws_; no matter what she said from there, he seemed to be completely impervious. The guitarist heaved a sigh, wondering if perhaps she should pursue the matter, but – no, he had met her eyes with little trouble, and she quite clearly could hear Hanamura moving about in the kitchen. Brainwashing Togami could simply be too difficult to start off with, and if the chef was to come in during the attempt – well, she didn't need a repeat of the whole Hinata thing. A few more minutes were spent pestering the heir to come to some place alone with her and failing miserably; then, Mioda sighed again, and decided to go for Plan B, which was most definitely not thought up in the heat of the moment or anything like that.

The storeroom of the Rocketpunch Market wasn't _really_ being used as a clubroom, she told herself. After all, there were more comfortable places for meetings than an ancient storeroom filled with dust and cobwebs; the airport lobby, for one thing. But – with the old lodge ruled by Byakuya Togami and every chance of the others hanging around the hotel and assorted cabins, the storeroom seemed like the safest of options. It was a place tucked out of view from the path, and a place where she could easily hear anyone coming into the shop before they would be aware of the meeting – since her hearing was so good, and her orders would be silent for the most part. Settling herself on a plastic milk–crate, Mioda focused, and then sent out a message to the three brainwashed, ordering them to come to her.

She waited for perhaps ten minutes, but Tsumiki didn't show up. Perhaps it was the distance, or perhaps she had slipped out of Mioda's control again, the guitarist didn't know which – but Souda and Hinata came, and that was a relief. Under other circumstances, Mioda might have gone out to search for the nurse, but her time was limited, and besides – she only needed two people for tonight, and the boys, would be more effective in stopping Togami than Tsumiki might have been. Skinny as they were in comparison to the heir, if they both charged Togami at the same moment, they'd surely have _some _sort of impact.

However, they had to _move _at the same moment; a second delayed in one of the attacks could make all the difference, much as a second delayed in a song could make all the difference. But, perched atop that flimsy milk–crate, watching the two boys, Mioda was starting to have her doubts as to whether they'd be able to move at the same time – or heck, if one of them would even obey her orders properly. They stood before her, waiting for their new orders – and that was _something, _but there similarities ended. Souda stood as though he were a tin soldier, chin up, arms by his sides, eyes glazed, but Hinata stood in a fairly typical slouch, his hands in his pockets as he tried to find something interesting to look at on the floor.

_Uh, _Mioda began – ordering the brainwashed about always felt strange, but it felt even stranger when one of them looked so uncomfortable – _um, so here's what Kazuichi–chan and Hajime–chan should do tonight. See–_

"What is it _now?_" Hinata slurred, though his voice was dripping enough sarcasm to make Mioda openly flinch. "Yet another near–death experience?"

_More of a prevent–death experience, Hajime–chan!_

"Ah… So it _is_ a near–death experience, then. I swear, this voice isn't very good at ensuring our survival." Hinata glanced over at Souda in a search for some sort of approval, looked away, then did a double–take; Mioda could feel his mind trying to startle itself awake with the sight of the mechanic. It wasn't struggling _against_ Mioda's control just yet – it wasn't aware that it was under it in the first place – but it was enough to make the guitarist feel uneasy. "H–hey… What's wrong with him?" Hinata began, but that was about as far as he got into thinking anything was off.

_Um… Nothing's wrong with Kazuichi–chan. That's pretty normal, actually._

"You have a strange sense of _normal_, oh voice. Also – are you guys hearing all this too, or am I still asleep?"

_Please, Hajime–chan – just stand there like Kazuichi–chan, look pretty, and listen._

Hinata frowned at that one, and Mioda could feel his mind – not _resisting_, just stalling for time, trying to figure out what was going on. It was useless, she knew – like trying to work out what two and two was if you had no understanding of numbers – but it was a simple approach, and it made Mioda nervous.

"But Kazuic– _Souda_ doesn't look pretty. He looks… kind of uncomfortable, actually?"

Mioda fidgeted on her crate; perhaps causing Hinata to forget about everything from last night hadn't been the_ best _of ideas. He'd gone and invented some sort of fantasy to explain the voice in his head, and now he was openly arguing with it; that couldn't be good for his sanity, and it was wearing on the guitarist's patience. Really, if she'd known he was going to be _this _much trouble, she wouldn't have ordered him here in the first place – at this rate, he'd be a liability.

_It's comfy. Promise._

"I–I'm sure it isn't comfy! He's _drooling!_"

Mioda groaned out loud, rubbing at her temples; his constant, irritable objections were beginning to make her head hurt. She was apparently going to have to use some other way to get Hinata to help, but she didn't have the _time_ to think up a decent excuse to fool him with, or even a half–decent one. She considered explaining the whole situation, how it was life–or–death and all that sort of thing, and get his consent that way, but – if Hinata suddenly became aware of everything, he'd either lunge at her or run away screaming, and neither option seemed that appealing. The guitarist seriously doubted Souda could hold Hinata back, either; it'd hurt one or both of them at best and wake up the mechanic at worst.

And so, in typical Mioda fashion, she went for the worst option of the lot.

_Voices in his head, thinking that Kazuichi–chan's drooling – Hajime–chan sure has a vivid imagination, doesn't he?_

"It's only one voice. And– I'm _sure _that Souda's drooling! I wouldn't have said it otherw–"

The guitarist leaned in, putting enough force into her thoughts to make him choke on the rest of his words. Not a pretty sight, but it meant that she was able to deliver her final gambit to a relatively quiet audience member.

_Hajime–chan's just making everything up. _

"Ah… I see. All in my head. Somehow."

He believed it because Mioda had said it, and she could feel his will fading away almost immediately. Despite the headache, it wouldn't be much longer before she would finally have gotten him under control, for a little while at least. That said – she felt bad, and would have felt worse if she hadn't been doing it to save a life; it was a necessary step to protect the others.

"I'll let you go later, okay?" she whispered, and Hinata nodded, just a little. "Ibuki's truly sorry. But… When all of this is over, I'll – _she'll _let them both go. Not that Ibuki knows how to, but she's sure she'll figure it out–!"

She stopped – what was the point in talking now? They couldn't hear her; they probably wouldn't even_ remember_ what Mioda had done when it was all over. She needed to get to work, not sit around promising things she wasn't sure she could keep later on. Tonight, she needed to stop Togami from doing whatever he planned; she couldn't think about other things – not right now.

* * *

><p>However, there was someone who thought about things, and thought about them a great deal. And now, since <em>everything<em> was in his head, Hajime Hinata was able to think about things very, very much indeed. He was on a hoverboard, cruising through a tunnel of neon crystal (bright lines, sharp edges, invisible floors), and he thought about things. Questions existed as split paths here, and he was to pick the path containing the best answer – not that he could see the question itself, or the answers for that matter, but he would always know if he was _right _or _wrong_ in his choice afterwards, and that was all that really mattered. Little by little, step by little step, he would eventually answer every question correctly, and then he would figure out what was going on.

_Why do you want to know what's going on?_

Hinata braked at that, putting his back foot down so that the backside dragged against the crystal floor with a shower of rainbow sparks. That, right there, was a thought that wasn't his, or at least was not the thought of the Hajime Hinata on the hoverboard. It couldn't be one of the questions, either – for one thing, he'd never heard any of them until now, and for another, there was no fork in the path he was currently on. It couldn't be someone other than himself, however – logically speaking, he was completely in the confines of his own head right now. So – it had to be himself, and yet it couldn't possibly be himself, and that is why he frowned.

_Your own head isn't a private void. It's a public object, which can be accessed by an admin with the relevant– Ah. No, that's too confusing. You know what? Blame aliens. Or magic. Or – maybe even magic aliens. They're around, y'know! They took my hamburger, this one time. Not all of it – just the beef parts._

Magic. Right. Well, since everything was in his head at present, something as illogical as magic was a distinct possibility. It was almost _reasonable_, in fact, given that Hinata was gliding on a hoverboard through an electric, shimmering, rainbow world; not unlike an acid trip, really. So – this was somehow a magician, possibly an alien magician, chattering away in his head for some reason. Apparently, this person had also had a run–in with other aliens and their possibly–magical burgers – no, no, that was too many maybes and possibilities all at once, and the walls were too thin, he was smashing through them all without meaning to and–

Darkness, and a shuffling of papers.

_Sorry, man. Things were getting kind of... trippy, there. And I need you to see a few things while you're still sane. I need someone to get everyone to this one endgame, and it's easiest to access you and that other person without screwing up anything. Okay? Okay. Here's something to look at, just lemme search for this stuff. Um... Hmmm..._

Stars flew past Hinata, or at least – white, square specks in otherwise completely black void. He stayed steady on his hoverboard, and that was _something_, but – he definitely wasn't in the space of his own head anymore. Yes, he was still flying, still on the hoverboard, but he was _also_ remembering things he shouldn't have remembered, things that definitely weren't his to remember. He remembered the first time he'd held a sword, and had smacked Kuzuryuu in the head with a rather enthusiastic swing, and he remembered the day he'd won the lottery due to being kidnapped by a serial killer–

_Tum, tum–tee–tum... where did I put the stuff... maybe–? No, that's my coffee... um... H–hey! Stop looking at the files! They might – I dunno, bite you or something! They're not exactly user-friendly things!_

But Hinata didn't know how to stop– the hoverboard drifted ever onwards, ever forwards, and he found himself remembering more and more. It wasn't just the defining moments, either – every single, insignificant little thing his classmates has ever done was rushing into his head, and it was starting to really _hurt_.

_Shi– no, no, nonononono–! I–if you hit the loops, you're gonna completely flip_–_! N–no, I've... I've g__–g__otta stay calm. Um, um – I think I kind of lost the backup stick under the cupboard, so I'm cutting to the live feed, okay? Just... sit there, and watch that. No going through the files while I'm away, okay? Good. Great. Catch you later._

* * *

><p>"So, you lost them."<p>

Hinata blinks – no, he's no longer in the starfield, and he's not on a hoverboard, and for a moment he wonders if he's woken up, but – no, no, he's just staring at a bright, bright screen, that so happens to show a picture of Nanami's room. He is sitting in a wheelie chair, at a long desk in a dark office; his hands are not tied, but his ankles have been shackled to the floor with a generous length of chain. And he looks at the screen again, and notices the little red light that blinks occasionally, and how grainy the footage is, how tinny the voices are and how dull the colours seem to be; he is watching a camera feed, perhaps even a live feed like that thing–that–was–him–and–not–him mentioned.

In his dozy, only semi–conscious state, he actually accepts all of this as just being another figment of his imagination. And it can't be real, anyway – because on the screen, Nanami's _agitated_; she's pacing the floor of her cabin, biting her lip, flicking her hood up and down and up again. As she gathers her thoughts, she gives the rabbit in her room a long, hard stare, then shakes her head in disbelief. "You lost the game manuals", she says, with more sharpness in her voice than Hinata would ever have expected from her. "That's kind of all we had left!"

Monomi of all people is hopping up and down on the girl's bed; Hinata has no idea why that is, or why Nanami is bothering to talk to her. "I–I couldn't hwelp it! They were here when everything restarted, all twucked up in my pwetty pwink spwarkles chest, and then suddenly– _poof!_ Sha–bam! The whole collection's gone! All my books–!"

"That's bad. That's really, really bad… I think."

"I–it's worse than bad! Even worse than rweally, _rweally_ bad! Way, wayyy worse!" Monomi's little arms wave in a decidedly grand gesture, and Nanami stops pacing for a moment, considering this. Yes - she's actually considering something Monomi is saying. This is _ludicrous._

"For it to be that bad… Monobear's taken them, hasn't he?"

"N–no – they were stolen by someone else!"

Frowning almost as much as Hinata is (though presumably not because she's confused out of her mind right now), Nanami goes over to the bed to sit next to the rabbit. "Someone on this island–? That… no, that shouldn't be possible. I don't think it should be possible, anyway."

"As the ever–hopeful teacher, I don't like to doubt my pwecious students, I really don't. I didn't even read their minds too much. But… If Monobear had them, that wouldn't be good. He'd have brainwashed them into despair… He'd have set up motives deliberately engineered to take advantage of them… A–actually, that's _exactly_ what happened last time! Gosh, he must have had the manuals! How howwifying!"

"Hmmm... Anyway, if someone has them, then I think I know exactly where to start looking for those manuals. I mean, if you think about it logically –"

"A–ahhh, you've found a lead alweady? Rweally, truly?! You've always been my vewy favourite student!"

Nanami smiles. "Yes… Yes, I've always known."

His confusion has finally reached a point where he just can't take any more of it - and so, Hinata turns his attention away from the screen, with a sigh of relief as it goes dark. He tries to look about the room, but almost immediately his attention is caught by another screen, perhaps two metres to his left – is that a grainy picture of his one friend on the island? _Sweet_ – if this is a live feed, Komaeda must be having a pretty reasonable conversation right now. It is with some difficulty that Hinata pushes off the desk in front of him and scoots over to the little screen, using the wheelie chair as an impromptu method of transport, but he manages it, and he watches, eager to see what his friend is up to.

_Click, click, click._

Hinata frowns, leaning towards the screen. Perhaps something is wrong with the camera, for it to be clicking like that? Yes, something _must _be wrong here. He's sure that maintenance will be around soon enough.

"Ahh… I suppose it is over. And here I was, thinking I might see a battle of hopes here. How foolish, to pin myself against myself – a Fool's Mate was all that could come of it. Fitting."

_Click, click, click _– no, there's nothing wrong with the camera. It's just a pawn clacking against the board, as Komaeda toys with it – a piece as white and polished as his teeth, almost as ominous as his smile – the one he aims at the shadow in the doorway. It shudders, it looks away, and the pale boy laughs.

"Yes, yes… There really is no way out. The king – the leader – has been pinned behind the bodies of his subjects, and has nowhere left to run… Not even the brightest of hopes could save this terrifying situation. A good thing that it's just a game." He pauses to take a breath, then tilts his head with a smile. "And yet, it is not so different to the one we play now."

_Click, click, click._

Whoever Komaeda is addressing doesn't speak; but Hinata sees them shiver, and he's damned sure that they're wishing that they had never come to check on him.

_Click, click, click._

The shadow inclines itself, but no words are spoken. Hinata wants to yell something, what Komaeda's said is starting to sink in – but doesn't know what to say to any of it. Is there anything he _can _say? And so, there is only an awkward silence, broken when Komaeda tries again:

"Do you understand, or is my language too common for one such as yourself? If I am the fool, then you must be the king – the ruler, the one central to this game. Pinned like this… It is not my business to know, of course, but I must wonder what you will do! To live, will you sacrifice two, or five of your little subjects? Or, perhaps you will flip the board, creating your own hope! That would be something to see, my lord – a hope bright enough to carry you to freedom, though of course not so much as a pawn would be left behind! Ahhh, what a sight…"

_Click, click, click._

And yet, Hinata is still silent, trying to figure out why _Komaeda_ of all people is saying these awful, awful things. God, his own must be so messed up, to be making all of this up – and yet, it _must _be making it all up, since there's just no way Hinata's friend would be doing this, encouraging Whoever It Is to murder. He wants to turn his wheelie–chair and scoot far, far away from this false, horrible thing masquerading as what's actually going on in real–time, but for some sick reason, he stays, just to see how it will all end. Perhaps Komaeda is just... joking? He must be... Yes, he must be.

There is another pause, another careful, hesitant breath, and then Komaeda goes on: "But, what would I know? I am the fool. I have my own ideas, my own agenda… My own plans, however foolish they are. "

"_What_ plans?" The words are out before the person can stop themselves, and they know it; there is a sharp gasp, and Komaeda's smile is wider.

"Oh… I think they might be far too foolish your most esteemed ears. Suffice to say that I want the darkest despair to be the backdrop for our bright, shining hopes, so they will be even brighter!" _Click, click, click, _goes the pawn against the board, and there can be no doubt – Komaeda is the one who thinks he's fool enough to do something truly awful, the one who truly is fool enough to do it. And yet, there _is _doubt, and oh–so–much doubt, because Komaeda doing anything like this is... terrifying. Not _impossible_, and there is the true fear that's making Hinata's heart bang hard in his ears, his breathing loud and shallow.

It has to be impossible. This can't be a live feed, it just can't be–!

"And what is any of what you just said supposed to mean?"

"I just want the game to start", Komaeda says, and stands, and then Hinata _knows _that none of this can be at all real, for he reaches into the air and slowly pulls out a knife; a small fruit–knife, with a gaudy handle of red and blue plastic. There is a sharp, grating sound as he takes it from nowhere; as though it is coming out of some rusted, yet apparently invisible sheath. "And it is about to begin. I can hardly wait!"

And he smiles – he glances up at the camera as though he _knows_ Hinata's there, and he taps the point of his blade against the metal shelving. _Click, click, click_ – Hinata tries to scoot back from the screen, but he _can't. _He takes a breath; tells himself that he's not moving merely because he has no reason to. Even in this weird, awful nightmare, Komaeda isn't dangerous. If he really _is_ just a fool, he's not going to do a thing – and he's not doing a thing right now, is he? He's not coming towards the person standing frozen behind Hinata – he's just smiling, and tapping the shelves with that knife, that's all he's doing. And speaking of that, he didn't _really_ pull it out of empty space – he just… did a little sleight of hand or something, and now he's tapping away with it, as though it will unnerve the two them. It shouldn't unnerve Hinata. It won't unnerve him.

_Click, click, click…_

And yet, he is afraid that this might just be real.

_Okay, I've officially lost the stick _– _long story, don't make me go into it. So – I'm gonna have to do this manually, which means I, uh, have to read all these really hard–to–follow instructions. Just chill out there _– _I'm gonna open up all the live feeds except yours and that other person's, 'cos we can't track you guys right now, and it'd be a bit disturbing for you to see yourselves right now. Seriously, you look completely possessed _–_ freaky enough for even me to stop watching you two. Anyway, hopefully this won't take too long _–_ but it'll be fine. Hopefully._

Fourteen screens light up, and he knows he should watch them, but he can't bring himself to do it – and so Hajime Hinata buries his face in his hands, and cries.


	11. Chapter Ten: Declaration of Insolence

As the party drew nearer, so did Koizumi draw her blankets about herself, trying to think. Emphasis on the _trying_, because that definitely wasn't easy. She hadn't been able to stop herself from taking pity on Tsumiki and un–brainwashing her practically as soon as she was in the nurse's cabin – but now she had to put up with that constant worrying in the back of her mind, as well as Nidai's hourly thumping on the door to check in on the two of them ("Has she eaten yet? She absolutely _must _eat! What about push–ups? Has she– what do you _mean_, 'no'?"). However – she desperately needed to think things out; everyone's lives were on the line tonight.

_Why would Togami think something like that, anyway?_

That was the biggest question she had about the whole thing, in all honestly. After all – just because Togami had _thought _it didn't mean he meant it, did he? Perhaps as the mastermind, he intended to throw Koizumi off the trail, by making her think that he intended to kill someone. When, in fact, he intended to… _what?_ What else could he be doing?

She took a breath, and tried again. What else _could _Togami do? Well, aside from killing someone, he was capable of… cleaning? Leading? Eating? Why would he be trying to distract her from any of that? No, no – it must have had something to do with his ability. He could make anyone do what he said, so…

_If he makes one of them do it, while Mioda and I are busy watching him–_

_Oh, no._

That had to be it. Togami wasn't the threat, but he had _pretended _to be; thinking that one little thing so that Koizumi would try to watch him and not the brainwashed. Those people would go behind her back, kill someone, then of course Togami would take the blame, since he had brainwashed them.

_Nice try, but it's not going to work!_

She knew what she had to do, then: Find the brainwashed while Togami was busy in the lodge, and un–brainwash them just before the party. They then wouldn't be able to react to the heir's orders, and so everyone would be safe. Koizumi smirked at the thought, moving to sit up against her pillows. Thanks to her, this party would be _perfect_ – one last good time, before the punishment at the end of tomorrow–

And then the door fell over. Literally – it came straight off its hinges, and ended up flat on the floor. Tsumiki sprang back with a shriek, and though she still kind of fell over somewhere in the middle of that, the door just barely missed her.

"Ah, sorry about that!" Owari grinned, stepping lightly over the door she'd just kicked over. "Figured I might as well knock for once."

Tsumiki whimpered and backed away from the gymnast, shaking her head. "P–please don't do it again–! U–um, unless you really want to… Oh, I'm so s–sorry f–for saying all of that–! i–I don't mean to be b–bossy…"

"Spare me", Owari replied, cocking her head to the side. "So, where's the get–well–soon cake? Y'know, since Hanamura's been cooking up a storm in the lodge, I woulda thought that he'd make one…"

"You came for _cake?_" Koizumi asked. "That guy's been cooking all day for the party!"

"Well, why's one measly little party taking him so long? C'mon, I'd have thought that for a Super–High–School–Level Chef, a four–course meal for sixteen people with a complimentary buffet would be a snap!"

"Are you kidding? " the photographer began, fully intending to launch into a full–on rant on just how hard that would actually be for just one person, but then Tsumiki made a nervous little noise, wringing her hands.

"S–so, um… A–about the party. I–I was hoping you could m–maybe–? "

"Ohhhh, that's right! Yeah – actually, I came to get you two. Togami's refusing to let anyone in until everyone's at the door, and that food's not gonna eat itself!"

"W–well… Um, Koizumi's not really well enough to be standing there for the whole party, a–and I should be watching over her, so we should really stay here – um, I mean, if that's okay…"

"Nah, he said _everyone._" Owari glanced left and right before continuing. "Don't you have… I dunno, a wheelchair or something?"

"I'm not going in a wheelchair!" Koizumi protested, trying to get out of bed; only to be restrained by Tsumiki's hand on her chest. At any other time, the concerned thoughts in the nurse's head might have been somewhat soothing, but here they were only frustrating her – if she wanted to do anything, the photographer _needed _to go to the party on her two legs. "I can stand perfectly fine, let me up_–_"

"N–no, you've done quite enough running for today. I–I'm not having you get hurt! A–and... Um, I don't have a wheelchair here, either, so…"

"Look", Owari began, leaning against the very–much–empty doorframe. "Seriously, just put her in something with wheels. I dunno – a pram or a sled or something, I don't care–"

"A–a _pram?!_" Koizumi spluttered, looking Owari in the eye and – thanks to the whole mind–reading thing – realizing that she was absolutely serious about that one. "No way. I'd rather be dead than do that!"

"W–well… Um, at least it has wheels, which i–is a little better than the sled…"

The photographer let out something like a growl, fighting against Tsumiki's grip. "I'm notgoing in a pram, _or_ a sled! I'm going to walk there, right now–"

Her words were choked off by Owari's deciding to help the nurse hold her down, albeit with far more force than should have been necessary. Koizumi probably should have expected it when Owari took that run–up in her peripheral vision – and yet she was somehow surprised by the gymnast's graceful leap onto her chest. Had it not been for the mattress, she was sure that bones would have been broken, for Owari all but dived at her, elbowing the nurse out of the way as she did so. As it was, Koizumi was driven hard into the mattress; several springs made a very unusual noise indeed, and she winced at that.

Owari, on the other hand, seemed quite comfortable balancing on the photographer, with her feet just above Koizumi's ribs, her hands on the photographer's chest, and the rest of her crouched over Koizumi like some sort of bizarre gargoyle. "Nailed it!" she declared proudly, and there was a high–pitched noise of worry behind her; not that the photographer could see its owner with Owari in the way, but Tsumiki's thoughts were going fast enough for her to have made that noise.

"W–why are you–?!" the photographer wheezed; it wasn't easy to talk with Owari on top of her, but she made a pretty decent attempt. Not that she needed to – with the gymnast in such close proximity, the contents of her mind were being all but shoved into Koizumi's brain. It seemed that Owari had memorized every single dish Hanamura had told Togami about at the meeting that morning; and now she could just about _taste_ them.

"Me?" The gymnast wiped her mouth with the back of her hand – _was she drooling? _– and went on: "I just wanna eat my food in peace. If that means I've gotta stuff you in a pram, I'll do it. And about that– Hey, Tsumiki! Have you got something with wheels yet?"

The nurse's voice came from somewhere to Koizumi's left; Tsumiki must have stayed where Owari had elbowed her. "N–no… Um… P–please don't hate me–!"

"It's fine, just hurry up. I'm _hungry._"

"Y–yes, of c–course! Wh–whatever you want!" Tsumiki whimpered, all but tripping over her own feet as she rushed out the door.

Some minutes were spent lying in awkward silence – then, as realization dawned that the gymnast wasn't about to get off her any time soon, Koizumi made a half–hearted attempt to roll out from under her attacker. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't successful. Being a tall, strong athlete, Owari was far heavier than the photographer was – all it took was for the gymnast to shift her position slightly, gripping Koizumi's shoulders, and the girl was pinned down again. "Look, just… Just get off me", the photographer gasped, adding after a moment's pause: "Please? "

"Nah, I just got on", she replied. "Plus, it's pretty comfortable here, so–"

"W–well, it's not comfortable for me!" Koizumi hissed between her teeth, wriggling her arms out from behind her sides in order to fold them in front of her chest. She admittedly regretted the action, given that it resulted in Owari's considerable bust resting on her forearms, but it was a small price to pay for looking as stubborn as she possibly could. "And besides, i–if someone looks in… Come on, you _know_ what it looks like."

The gymnast blinked, rocking back on her heels; Koizumi winced at the painful movement, wincing again as Owari racked her brain for everything 'it' could look like. As it was, she came up with mostly Hanamura–related incidents, stuff about meat and the suchlike – and from there, it was all back to food. "Ehhhh, can't say I do. And even if I did know – hey, who cares what it looks like?"

The photographer was about to say something rather rude about Owari's care for life in general, when the two of them were interrupted by a squeaking of rusty wheels, and a loud rattling noise. "U–um…" came a small, quavering voice, and never before had Koizumi been so glad to hear it. "I–I… I found this outside the supermarket… W–will it be all right?"

Tsumiki's mind whimpered something about how she was _sure _that position wasn't good for anyone, she heard the nurse take a hesitant step forwards – and Owari rolled off the photographer with ease, grabbing Koizumi's arm with a cheery smile. "Okay, c'mon! We've got to get at that food before Togami eats it all himself!"

"Wait a minute! Tsumiki, what did you _get?_" the photographer asked, as she was dragged forwards, stumbling over the fallen door and out into the night, blinking at the sudden change in lighting.

"In you go!"

"Oh, no, no, _no–_"

* * *

><p>"Mmmmmh… Ibuki's been waiting for a whole six hundred seconds now! C'mon, c'mooon… Do we <em>have <em>to wait for Akane–chan and Mikan–chan _and _Mahiru–chan! That's three chans too many, Byakuya–chaaaaan! A–and now it might even be _that–chan…_"

Togami looked out at the cabins from his position in the lodge's doorway, pushing back his glasses on his nose as though that might somehow help, and all Mioda wanted to do was brainwash him into letting her and the rest inside. Not that the island was unpleasantly cold at night, but – the smells coming from within were tantalizing to say the least. She could hear the others talking about how good the food smelled, even caught the rumble of someone's stomach – there could be something like a mutiny, if Togami didn't let them all in soon.

_If we were just alone, Ibuki'd brainwash Byakuya–chan… And then not only could she eat, she'd be able to stop him from killing someone! Uh – if he's planning on that, of course._

"Tch… They will be here soon, I am sure. Koizumi, after all, is injured. I imagine that her transport will take some ti–"

"Hey! Listen!" the guitarist yelled, and there was absolute quiet – both from Togami, and from the others behind her. She listened hard, and heard it – a soft, ominous rumbling from somewhere in the distance. It sounded almost like distant thunder, but that couldn't be right; there had been nothing but sunshine all day, after all.

"That's funny", Nanami said, tilting her head. "I… I think I've heard that phrase before. Isn't it–"

"Shhhhh!" Ibuki hushed her, and once again there was qui–

_rrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCHCHTTCHCCTCCAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAAAAAAAAAAA–_

"AIAIIIIIEIIEIEIEIEIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Just like that, the low rumbling had become a distinctly female scream, accompanied by a rattling and a clanking like no other Mioda had heard before. Out of the darkness and into the light spilling out of the old lodge came a large, metallic cage of some sort, and it came at very high speed, scattering all of those waiting around the lodge's edge–

–all, that is, but one.

"I… WIIIIIIILL… STOP… YOOOOOOOOUUUUUU!" Nidai howled, and just before the whatever–it–was hit him, he'd braced for the impact. Since she was the closest to him, having backed up the lodge steps and into Togami's arms, Mioda screeched her very loudest and covered her eyes for good measure, but there was no agonizing scream or liquid splattered all over the guitarist; not even any witty commentary from Monobear. It was with great hesitation that she opened one eye…

….and nearly burst out laughing. In fact, she would most definitely have laughed, if not for the furious look Koizumi gave her. The photographer, as it happened, had been crammed into a shopping trolley of all things; and a shopping trolley filled with a mess of pillows and blankets at that.

"_Thank you _, Nidai", she tutted, even as Owari and Tsumiki ran up behind her, both of them trying to explain that it was quite clearly the other's fault the trolley had gone so fast, and the nurse rearranging the pillows under Koizumi, covering the floor of the trolley so she wouldn't end up hurting herself on the metal bars. As they did so, Mioda nudged Togami with her elbow.

"Sooooo… Ibuki knows Nagito–chan and Teruteru–chan aren't here yet, buuuuut can maybe Ibuki an' Akane–chan an' Mahiru–chan an' Kazuichi–chan an' Gundam–chan an'–"

" Hanamura and Komaeda have been at their posts since breakfast today. Thus, you may all enter – one at a time, however. I will be checking each of you thoroughly. I will not have anything going astray tonight." He pointed behind her. "Get in line."

Mioda blinked, shuffling back to join Koizumi. Surprisingly, she was able to take the handle of the trolley and guide it into the slowly forming line at the lodge's door – Nidai was roaring at Owari, while Tsumiki cowered behind the gymnast. "Hey, Mahiru–chan", she began, trying to sound as casual as she could. "Um – so, aside from her shopping trolley related incident, was there anything... y'know, that she found out?"

"You're _really_ bad at this", Koizumi murmured, then shook her head, barely raising her voice. "I… I think we're going to need to watch more than one person tonight, or the food'll be all gone before we know it."

"The food–? Wh–what's the food got to do with–"

"Shhh." With some effort, Koizumi managed to turn around in the shopping trolley, grabbing Mioda by the scarf and pulling her down in order to whisper: "He's got accomplices."

"Ibuki's got really good hearing, y'know! Mahiru–chan doesn't need to pull her so close" the guitarist replied, straightening and glancing about herself – the others hadn't noticed them, it seemed. Owari and Nidai were shouting at each other, Tsumiki still cowering, and the rest were watching Togami and Souda's vehement argument over whether or not Sonia should be able to bring her traditional Novoselic sauce bottle into the party.

"All these gems, all this metal– I can't allow it!" the heir declared, snatching Souda's wrench when the mechanic tried to wave it in his face. "And I am _certainly_ not allowing that!"

"All I'm sayin' is, Miss Sonia should be allowed to– _hey_, give that back! It's a tool, not a weapon!"

"It has potential."

"Please, stop!" Sonia called, moving from behind Souda to face the heir herself. "Togami – I would not have brought the bottle if I had known it was going to cause so much trouble. However, I do not believe it is a weapon… I merely intended for it to be a taste of Novoselic culture. I visited Hanamura in the lodge earlier; he told me that it would be fine to bring this. Is taking variety to your party truly such a crime?"

"Me too!" Souda added. "My wrench has a very deep cultural meaning to me, I'll have you know–!"

It wasn't like that line made much sense in itself, but nevertheless Mioda was rather proud of Souda's act. She'd worked hard throughout the afternoon to make _sure _he and Hinata appeared to be anything but suspicious. They really needed the surprise element to take Togami down, for one thing - and for another, it was much more comfortable for her when they appeared to be quite normal, despite being wholly under her sway. Not that she liked ordering them around in the first place - when this was all over, she'd find some way to bring them back to normal as soon as possible.

"Mioda," Koizumi said under her breath, turning back around to rest her elbows on the front of the trolley, "We're still following him, okay? The accomplice thing is only a hunch, really. At this rate, he's not going to need one, if no–one's got a weapon."

"But… Byakuya–chan won't have one either, will he?"

Koizumi shook her head, pointing instead towards Togami – who was currently locking Souda's wrench inside a large metal case. "He's going to have _all _the weapons."

"Ooooh, that's totally unfair!"

"What's unfair?" asked Togami, lifting a brow, and Mioda let out a choked noise, wishing yet again that she could just brainwash him into not doing whatever he was intent on doing.

_But, I can't… Not with Mahiru–chan watching, definitely not with everyone else…_

"Ibuki was just thinking how unfair it is that Nagito–chan and Pekoyama–chan are in there already, probably eating all the food?"

"You're really, _really_ bad at this" Koizumi muttered, only to let out a similarly undignified noise to Mioda's when the latter decided to charge forwards with the trolley, the momentum carrying them up the low steps and straight towards the heir in the doorway. "H–hey! Stop that! You're cutting the lin– hey, look out, we're gonna crash–!"

"Don't worry, Ibuki's raced shopping trolleys heaps of times!" It wasn't a Super–High–School–Level act, no, but the guitarist managed to jerk back on the handle, dig her heels into the creaky wooden floor, and so it was that the two of them skidded to a halt inches from Togami's feet. "_Anyway_, Ibuki's next! And Mahiru–chan, of course."

The heir sighed, looking the trolley up and down. "Must we bring that… _item_… into my party?"

"Well, of course not! I can walk perfectly fine–"

"N–no you c–can't!" Tsumiki all but sobbed, racing up the stairs behind them. "Um… I–I'm really sorry, it must be all my fault for not caring enough, but you're not well enough to be walking."

"I'm totally well enough! I was walking just fine this morning, wasn't I?"

"Y–you did–?" Tsumiki blinked, all wide–eyed surprise – and, by the way, _completely _ignoring Mioda's orders to relent and let the photographer out of the shopping trolley. The guitarist frowned a little – it seemed that Hinata wasn't the only brainwashed person she would need to keep an eye on. Not that she needed to keep much of an eye on Hinata right now - he'd been rather well-behaved throughout today, almost as easy to control as Souda had been. Had her little attempt at making him believe everything was in his head - had that _actually worked? _If it had, then she was definitely going to need to use it on the others; it could really save her rather a lot of trouble later on.

"Th–then that's why it's become so much worse today! Over-exerting yourself isn't good a–at all!" Tsumiki's words interrupted her thoughts, making the guitarist blink and shake her head - she had a lot more to worry about than how to control people right now. But, before she could retaliate with a few choice words-

"Hmmm… Well, regardless of the necessity, I am of the opinion that the trolley will surely be weaponized, should it fall into the wrong hands. Mioda's handling and… well, the handling of _whichever _person was responsible for that incident – both nearly caused terrible accidents. Therefore, I will take it upon myself to guard the trolley."

"Byakuya–chan's gonna _what?!_" Mioda spluttered, and Koizumi made a similar noise. If Togami _was_ planning to kill someone, having a witness right there the whole time didn't make any sense at all! What on earth was he trying to do, by making sure that he'd have a witness? Was he, perhaps, not going to kill anyone? Had he somehow told Koizumi something that the latter had misunderstood? Or… Was he going to _use_ the fact that whenever he was ready to make his move, she would always be right next to him, half–trapped in a steel box of sorts? In fact, the more Ibuki thought about it – if Togami kept the trolley, then the only person who knew about his threat would be close to him – _helpless, _and of course, she was already going to be punished with the other four tomorrow if no–one else died before she went. And Togami, he'd have all the weapons well within his reach…

_Oh… Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Nope, nada, nil, nah, nooooo, n–o–p–e. Not happening!_

"I have already explained", Togami harrumphed, running his hands briefly through the contents of the shopping trolley, before moving past to where Mioda stood at its handle. He gave her a cursory look over, ruffled her scarf, checked under her collar, then shrugged. "You may both enter. I will soon follow, to take charge of the item."

The guitarist hesitated, deciding to follow through with her very best pleading–puppy–look. "Soooo, can Ibuki maybe, stay with Marihu–chan? She was having a really great silent conversation…" Mioda trailed off at the stare Togami was giving her – it was hard for even a chatterbox like to keep that sort of thing up under the pressure of such a calculating stare. There was relative quiet for a moment, then the guitarist decided to try and change the topic: "Uh… Does Ibuki have something on her nose?"

"You are really, really, _really_ bad at this", Koizumi mumbled, and Mioda did an excellent job of pretending not to hear that.

"No… It's nothing. Do what you please", the heir declared, turning away from her in order to inspect Tsumiki. "To me, it does not matter, so long as the trolley is not turned into a weapon. Now, go inside."

And so it was that with a squeaking of wheels and a heart very heavy indeed, Mioda pushed the shopping trolley into the old lodge.


	12. Chapter 11: There It Goes

From her position in the shopping trolley, Koizumi scowled up at the young heir – who stared straight back, until she was forced to look away. Irritated by the submissive gesture, she promptly folded her arms, closing her eyes for a long moment to try and block out Togami's thoughts – mostly repetitions of the opening speech for the party, as he carefully went over every last detail. They were a good twenty minutes into the party now, and yet there was still nothing related to the ominous thought he'd had earlier. But, Koizumi couldn't help but wonder if he was the mastermind, just hiding everything about his plans rather successfully from her. Maybe she could try to change his thought–path by talking to him; perhaps she could make him think about his horrible plans for the evening, but… Well, what was she supposed to say, without revealing her ability at all? What sort of talk would he want to hear, and not just dismiss as stupid chatter–?

"Koizumi. I asked you a question, and I am awaiting a response."

The photographer shook her head, trying to clear it as best she could – not an easy task, when Nidai's and Owari's own personal monologues were boring into her mind, mixing with the calm, collected thoughts of the guy who had apparently just asked her something. Togami's voice carried just a hint of irritation, though his expression was held perfectly neutral despite the sight of Sonia emerging from the kitchens in front of them with a plate of food. Not that this was anything odd, but Hanamura was following along behind, and appeared to be running an obnoxious inner commentary as he did so – a log of his 'mission' to see right up–

"_Koizumi._"

Dealing with the thoughts of so many people all at once was _hard_, she decided. It was a good thing Komaeda, Pekoyama, and Nanami were elsewhere in the lodge, whilst Kuzuryuu hadn't shown up to the party at all; she wasn't entirely sure that she'd have been able to take everyone's monologues for a good couple of hours' worth of party. Owari's constant chant of _Food! Food! Food! _was difficult enough to ignore on its own, let alone everything else. "Uh – sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"So I gathered." Togami sniffed then, and somehow even that sounded dignified; almost cocky. "I shall repeat myself, just this time. I wished to enquire as to whether or not you were having a decent evening despite your… shall we say, _condition._"

"I've told you already, I'm fine!" Koizumi snapped, choosing to ignore the slight emphasis he'd placed on 'condition'. After all, the heir couldn't have possibly known that she was a mind–reader; there wasn't any way he could have known. He was just referring to the whole injury thing, right? "And if you'd let me out of this trolley, I'd be actually _enjoying_ the party–"

"It is not in your role to be mingling – just as it is not in mine."

The photographer's breath caught in her throat. Did he know her real role – as the mind–reader sent to completely mess up his evil plan? Had he somehow figured it out? She glanced up at him, trying to read his mind – but Togami's thoughts, as usual, revealed very little about any awful plans he might have had. Silence hung between them, expectant and yet awful; the heir waited with fraying patience for his reply, and the photographer sat there in the trolley, trying to think of one that wouldn't give her away, or make the situation any worse. What if Togami's line was a prelude to some triumphant gloating sequence, where he'd actually try to kill her at the end? If it was, she didn't want to accelerate the process. Let him gloat – she'd have plenty of time to get away if he did that.

"You _have_ a role?" she asked at last, and Togami harrumphed, pushing his glasses back on his nose.

"My role is to ensure the safety of all participating in my party", he said. "Due to that, I must observe and monitor the gathering, and any threats to it – such as this trolley."

"I see", Koizumi replied, though her mind was far away from what he'd just said. He hadn't revealed that he was the mastermind she knew him to be, so he wasn't about to confront her just yet. That was something of a relief, but – well, when _was _he going to make his move? Did he have a little killing game all set up, and was looking to add the final touches of irony to it? Was he perhaps still unsure about Koizumi being his enemy, and hoping that she might accidentally reveal her own nature through this conversation? Or was he perhaps trying to _distract_ her, while one of his puppets quietly made their way out of the area and did something truly awful?

That last thought made a horrible amount of sense; and so as they stood there in relative quiet, she looked back over at the party, watching them for a long moment. Everything appeared to be fine – there were no strong urges to kill anyone that she could sense – and yet, she felt uneasy. For all she knew, there _could_ be someone plotting a murder, and just keeping it quiet, their own thoughts slinking low under the clamor of the rest. It wasn't like she could make out every last thought in the tangled mess that was the rest of the group, after all - if someone was trying to hide something, she could have easily missed it. And of course, there were those whose minds she could not read, those who made her uneasy automatically. Mioda was hardly a threat, given that she was definitely on Koizumi's side, but – well, Souda and Hinata were still under the sway of the mastermind, and even if they weren't doing anything much right now, that didn't necessarily mean that they weren't going to do something later on.

Speaking of which – Souda caught her eye, waving to her before taking a glass of something bright orange off the table and striding over. How a gesture so innocent could be so terrifying was beyond her, and yet the photographer shrank back in the trolley. He handed her the drink, and it was all she could do to try and avoid his gaze. She'd have attempted to de–brainwash the mechanic right then and there, but she couldn't – not so long as she was in a party in front of everyone else, not so long as she was in the presence of the mastermind, who _just so_ _happened _to be standing right next to a box containing every possible weapon in the building.

_Damn… Togami, you're clever–!_

"Try this. It's, uh… A killer, I guess?" he drawled, as Koizumi eyed the glass with distaste. Coming straight from the brainwashed slave of an enemy who possibly suspected her already, the brightly–coloured concoction within was most likely poisoned – that'd be Togami's style as a cutthroat heir, after all. She guessed that the poison was likely in Hinata's hands right now, since he was trying to tiptoe his way to the door of the kitchen, casting furtive looks over at Koizumi's little group every now and then.

"C'mon", Souda was saying, tapping a finger against the glass – unusual for him to be pushing her to do anything, but then again, she guessed a brainwashed Souda wasn't really an in–character Souda. "Like I said, it's a real killer. I didn't think that Hanamura could make a decent cocktail with no alcohol, but – hey, whaddaya know. I'd murder for one of these back home, ya get me–?"

"That will be _enough_," Togami grated, glaring hard at his brainwashed slave. "Can we please not speak of death at my party? There will be plenty of it tomorrow, if that blasted bear has his way."

_But if I have my way, there'll be just one_, he added silently, and Koizumi froze, eyes wide. One thought could have been a throwaway, but two was more than enough for her. He was seriously planning to kill someone, then – but who? How? It was frustrating – she knew this much, and yet she knew _nothing. _Was he doing this deliberately, perhaps? Making sure she kept her eyes on him, while Hinata went and butchered someone–? No, that had to be impossible. As suspicious as the guy looked, tiptoeing for the door, it was just _too _suspicious. A decoy, surely.

"I–I wasn't talking about _death!_" Souda spluttered. "I was just sayin', the drink's great! It's a real ki– I mean, it's really, really great…?" He trailed off, flashing Togami a nervous smile, which was definitely not returned. "A–anyway. You should really try it."

"I'm not at all thirsty, but thanks anyway", the photographer grated out, setting cup on the floor of the trolley. That got her a raised eyebrow from Togami – and a second from Mioda, who seemed to have finally noticed the little meeting. She began by climbing up onto the nearest chair, then a series of rather bizarre gestures followed; gestures she promptly froze in the middle of making every time Togami tried to see what was going on. As he clicked his tongue at her, causing an attempt to balance on one leg with the other three limbs splayed in completely different directions from each other, Koizumi almost groaned out loud. At this point, she had been officially outwitted, outmaneuvered, _and_ outnumbered by the brainwasher, and her only real hope of making it out alive involved the aid of the girl trying to organize some sort of strange sign language with her from across the room.

_Note to self: Just because she's resistant, doesn't mean she's useful._

Togami snorted and shook his head, focusing his gaze on the floor – and just for a moment, Koizumi could almost pretend that they were on the same side, that she wasn't in the company of a mastermind, her enemy and – if she failed – a murderer to boot. He looked tired, fed up already with Mioda's bizarre behaviour, maybe even as fed up as Koizumi was; she almost felt a little for him.

"If she intends to distract me from my work, I assure you that no matter what she does, she will fail", the heir declared after a long moment, then stepped away from the trolley to stand protectively over the weapons box, his arms folded. Souda hadn't moved since his last line, and now appeared to be drooling a little; either his role in the attempt to poison Koizumi was over for now and he'd run out of orders, or he was just waiting to strangle the photographer as soon as it was convenient. She backed up in the trolley, crouching a little just in case it was the latter; not that she had much of a defense against a brainwashed Souda who likely felt no pain, but it felt a little better to be ready for him. Regardless of whether or not Mioda was actually trying to distract the mastermind, things definitely weren't looking good – in fact, Koizumi wasn't entirely sure that they could get any worse.

But, as they say, things can always get worse – and in this case, it was when the lights went out that things _really_ went downhill. The photographer blinked once at the sudden darkness, then again at the sudden lack of any thoughts from anyone else. Here, she was completely powerless – anything could happen in the dark, and she'd have no idea who had done what. There was a surprised grunt and a thud from right next to the trolley, then the sounds of a scuffle – was that Togami, Souda, or someone else entirely? Someone could be about to knife her, and she'd have no idea that it was about to happen.

And that was it, wasn't it? That had to be Togami's big, awful, master plan – to kill someone in the dark, where she'd be powerless to put a stop to it. The photographer gritted her teeth, crouching low in the trolley as the fight, struggle, murder attempt, or _whatever it was_ continued right next to her. Every part of her wanted to stop whatever was going on, but – well, what could she do? She was injured, stuck in a trolley she'd have a hard time getting out of without help, and depending on who the brawlers were, she may well not have any chance against them.

As far as she was concerned, there was no way things could get any w–

"AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" said the darkness, and then it gurgled.

And with that, things had just gotten worse.

_Much _worse.

* * *

><p><em>"Help!"<em>

That was about when Mioda first realized that something was off. It wasn't when the lights went out, or when the screaming started – no, this was some minutes before all that.

_"Ghh…H–hey, someone help–!"_

It was a soft, distant cry, just barely audible over the general chatter of the party, but thanks to her brilliant hearing, Mioda picked it up. Seeing that Koizumi was still under the apparently murderous Togami's watch, she first sent Souda over to the photographer to give her a super secret message in his lines of dialogue, whilst Hinata sneaked towards the kitchen entrance in the very stealthiest way possible. However, Koizumi failed to get any of the message, which then led to Mioda's own, personal attempts to signal to the other girl that something was wrong. Or at least, that someone was staggering around outside the main party room, calling for help – the guitarist didn't think that was right, but then again she did think that shouting in libraries was right, too. So, she stood up on a chair – in a _very_ stealthy way, of course – and as the far–off voice coughed and weakened, she tried to tell Koizumi what was going on.

_"S–someone… Anyone at all–? Help?"_

Here, then, was where Mioda realized why so many spy stories ended horribly for everyone concerned. Koizumi could definitely have helped her out here, perhaps gone to check on the hallways, but – well, it wasn't Mioda's fault that her partner in crime apparently didn't know lifesaver arm signals, or airplane distress flag codes, or even regular sign language for _'I think someone just died out there!'_. Maybe Koizumi was brilliant at ciphers or something, but it wasn't like Mioda had paid that part of the whole spy thing much attention – hand signals were far faster and flashier, so she'd decided to memorize a heap of those.

And so it was that Mioda attempted just about every gesture she could think of over the next few minutes, with absolutely no success whatsoever. She was about to give up on the sign language, and perhaps try a secret handshake (or six, given how slow Koizumi seemed to be at this whole secret stuff thing – thankfully, since handshakes had the potential to be almost as flashy and violent as arm–waving, Mioda had memorized more than a few) – but that when there was a soft _beep_ from somewhere in the old lodge, and the lights went out.

Not that Mioda was all that worried by this; her hearing was good enough that she was able to continue maneuvering Hinata and Souda in the dark. For instance, she heard Togami's voice rise in concern, heard the latch of what she guessed to be the weapons box click open, and she directed the mechanic to leap straight at the guy, driving him back from any potential murder weapons. Togami staggered back into the wall with a heavy noise and a grunt, but Souda had his orders – to keep attacking Togami until he found one of those weak points all the game–bosses tended to have. Sure, the heir was a big guy; going off the noises, he managed to grab Souda and threw him to the ground. But it wasn't like Mioda had ever fought fairly, and that was why Hinata, having tripped over two tables in his haste to help his brainwashed buddy out, finally managed to jump the heir from behind, grappling with him in a blind attempt to try to find that weak spot.

_It's probably his glasses, or if the rating's really gone out the window, his–_

"AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

At that, Mioda leaped off the chair she had been standing on, and charged. "_Hey!_ Only Ibuki's allowed to scream that loud!" she yelled. "That's the sort of thing that gets her kicked out libraries all the time!" And that, combined with the round of her running, was enough to get the others to rally. With a roar, Nidai went into a headlong rush in the general direction of the scream, Owari hot on his heels:

"CHAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"

"Hey, old man! Lemme get 'im! I'll show whoever did this not to interrupt my food ever again!"

"Please calm down, everyone–!" Sonia called out, but it was no use; Nidai slammed into a wall hard enough that the neighbouring walls trembled.

"Someone needs our help!" he yelled.

The guitarist grinned, continuing her own charge – which, yes, sent her plowing into Togami, because Mioda _never _fought fair. The heir staggered back with a growl, mumbling something about fencing, but she wasn't going to let him get away after he'd somehow gone and killed someone in the dark, and so she lunged, got both hands around his neck and shoved him back against the wall, then kicked him. He thrashed – who wouldn't, after taking a hit right where Mioda thought she'd gotten one in? – but it was useless when Souda and Hinata were around. Mioda sprang back from the flailing heir, willing the duo back into action. Hinata threw himself against Togami, pushing him back against the wall, then Souda punched the heir until after several attempts and a few mumbled apologies, he managed to clock the heir hard enough that Togami crumpled to the floor.

_Sorry, Byakuya–chan… But Ibuki'll never fight fair when it comes to evil masterminds. Not that Ibuki'd ever fight fair, but – well, it's **especially** unfair for Byakuya–chan! Ha!_

She'd have stayed to gloat some more, but Monomi was squawking something about fixing up the power, something about how this had better not happen again. As the door flew open, Mioda took a few hasty steps away from Togami, silently willing Souda and Hinata to flee themselves, to mingle with the others. They had only a few seconds to move – but when the lights flickered back on, it was good to see that neither of them were near Togami's unconscious form – Hinata was shifting from foot to foot in front of Monomi, and Souda was under a table with his hands over his ears. The guitarist didn't mind being seen leaning against Koizumi's trolley, out of breath – half the lodge would have heard her charge, after all, so it'd have made the most sense if she was still here.

"What is gwoing on here?!" Monomi yelled, turning in a slow circle. "I– I was _wowwied _about all of my pwecious stude– _gwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!_" And with that, she swooned at the sight of whatever was out in the hallway. Mioda figured that the impressive shriek was very fitting, given the impressive amount of jam splattered all over the walls (or at least, she hoped it was jam).

"Hey! Stupid pig bitch! Do your job!" That was Saionji, of course. Tsumiki sprang to attention, as though her nickname really was something that in Mioda's less than humble opinion, should have been censored. The guitarist narrowed her eyes at Saionji, quietly resolving to brainwash her next – the dancer's language was at times too much, even for this self–proclaimed bad–girl.

"M–me?!" Tsumiki squeaked, lowering her gaze to well below Saionji's height. "Wh… what am I supposed to do? I–I hope I don't mess up, with… w–well, whatever it is–!"

The dancer shook her head in disbelief. "Someone's hurt out there, right? So, hurry the hell up! Geez –you're a _slow_, stupid pig bitch."

Tsumiki scurried out the door at that, Saionji following along behind ("to make sure the bitch doesn't mess up", or so she claimed), with Nidai bringing up the rear ("They just need to fight the blood loss! I know they can do it!" he called out, as Tsumiki got to work with whoever else was in the hallway). Behind them they left a melancholy gathering – or at least, a very, very quiet group of people who were definitely not in a party mood. Nanami had gone to sleep on the spot yet again, Hinata was prodding her in an attempt to wake the girl up, Koizumi was staring blankly into space, Souda was crouched under the table and sucking his thumb, Sonia stood quite still in the middle of the room with her palms pressed together, Hanamura was chewing reflectively on a lettuce leaf, Tanaka was brooding in his corner, and Togami was still unconscious. Even Mioda didn't feel up to making a racket; she kept her voice fairly soft, as she spoke to Koizumi.

"Hey… Does Mahiru–chan think everything's gonna be okay in the end?" It was less a question, and more a request for assurance; Mioda knew full well that everything would be right, just as soon as she figured out some way to brainwash the whole island. If there even was a mind–reader here on the island – which she figured wasn't likely – then there'd be no more conflicts, or name calling, or anything else_. _"It will be okay, right?" she asked after a moment, and Koizumi shook her head.

"I _wish_ everything'd go back to normal, but… Well, I think someone's died."

"N–no way–!" Mioda yelped, then hurriedly lowered her voice at the photographer's shushing. "Uh… Ibuki means, no way! Mikan–chan's a great nurse, right?! Super–High–School–Level Nurse and everything–!"

"I don't mean out there – pretty sure that's just a distraction. The real death is right here, right under our noses. I… Don't ask me how I know, but I just know it." She frowned.

_It's not Byakuya–chan, is it?_

Mioda glanced over at the unconscious heir, suddenly very worried indeed. Had she accidentally killed him? Or, more specifically – had Souda punched him too hard? There wasn't any way to tell; he lookedokay enough to her, but then again, he _was _lying slumped against the wall. The thought chewed at her mind, just as she chewed at her lip. If she had gone and killed Togami, however indirectly it was, she'd be punished for sure – and the island might never see a peace again.

"What's Mahiru–chan trying to say?" she asked. Koizumi's gaze flickered about the room.

"Look, Mioda. Don't you see it? Someone's not here. Someone who should have been here all along."

"Someone's not–?" Mioda frowned, but noting the rising panic in Koizumi's voice, she looked about herself. "Well, uh. Hajime–chan, Mahiru–chan, Gundam–chan, Kazuichi–chan, Byakuya–chan, Sonia–chan, and Chiaki–chan are all here – and of course, Ibuki's here too, right in the middle of this complete flop of a party." She sighed. "Even washing up the dishes'd be more fun for Ibuki than just standing aro-"

"That's it!" Koizumi yelled, leaping from the trolley and running across the room, dodging around the others as best she could. "That's _it!_ Come on! She's got to be in the kitchen or something– I'm not resting until I've made sure that she's okay! We've got to stop this!"

Mioda blinked. "Hey, wait up!"

"Oooh, an adventure? Count me in!" Sonia grinned, skipping alongside Mioda.

"An adventure to the pits of hell itself?! Lead on!" Tanaka yelled, and Souda came out from under the table fast enough to knock over a neighbouring one.

"I'm not letting you and Miss Sonia just go on your own! I'm coming, too–!"

"Hey, you never know!" Hanamura grinned, taking Hinata's arm in his. "If the girls run fast enough and we crouch low enough–"

"Let's not go there!" Hinata growled, striding ahead and trying very hard to (unsuccessfully) shake the chef from his arm as he did so. "Nanami… Are you coming, too?"

"Mnn–? Oh, I suppose so."

And just like that, the whole group was following Koizumi, and not being at all secretive about it; they talked and bantered as they jogged to catch up with her, they gasped and screeched as one by one, they came out into the hall to find truly grisly tableau. She decided that it was probably something to do with the jam all over the walls, and kept her own eyes averted; trying to enjoy the notion that just for once, almost everyone was on the same side. It didn't matter that Komaeda and Pekoyama were bleeding on the floor; those that could were trying their very best to help them, and those that couldn't were running down a hallway for… some reason. Still, at least they were doing that together, right–?

Behind them, the door went _scrrrrrkrkkkkkklik_, the tell–tale noise of a bolt being shoved home. Mioda whirled at the sound, and promptly doubled back, clawing at the wood. "Hey! Open up already, Byakuya-chan-! "

"Tremble in fear before the Four Dark Gods, oh unworthy door!" Tanaka snarled, forcing the guitarist out of his way - and as Mioda watched, three of his hamsters squeezed themselves under the door. "Behold!" he bellowed, hurriedly scooping up the fourth before it could try to wriggle under the door - the enormous, furry lump of a thing that Mioda was sure would have gotten stuck if it had tried to obey its master.

"N–no way!" Souda yelled, pulling the tiniest screwdriver the guitarist had ever seen from a pocket of his jumpsuit, and running to the door himself. "Just you watch! I'll win this race to Miss Sonia's heart–"

"Excuse me", the princess said, stepping between them. "Would it perhaps be a wiser option to knock? I believe that is how doors are opened in your country."

And, before either of them could complain, she knocked. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, the bolts ground back, and there stood Togami. He was leaning on the door for balance, and even paler than usual.

"I… I am afraid it is too late", he said. "I could not stop her. I tried, but – I could not stop her." He rubbed one hand across his eyes, then remembered that he was wearing glasses, took them off, and tried again. "I… am so sorry. I am truly the only person that can be held responsible for this dreadful, dreadful thing."

"R–responsible–?!" Koizumi snarled, driving him back into the room. "What do you _mean_, responsi–"

But then Owari leaped. No, not leaped - it was more like she fell off one of the roof beams in the lodge. She definitely wasn't herself; Mioda could have sworn that gymnasts didn't just let themselves fall of beams, nor did they flop midair - _especially_ not very good gymnasts. It all happened too suddenly for Togami to get out of the way - as it were, Owari would have landed on top of the panicked heir, had the rope not halted her fall. Instead, she hung suspended above his head - hung being the most important word there, for a sickening _snap_ rang throughout the room as the rope took her weight, and she went limp. Mioda stared into her lifeless, glassy eyes, took in that macabre smirk, and felt her stomach flip-flop.

There was a horrible, horrible silence after that, broken only by the toll of the funeral bell.

* * *

><p><em><span>Ding–dong.<span> _

_"Oh my goodness… Th–this is–!"_

_A body has been discovered. _

__"N-no... no way, no way, no way!"_ _

__You have one hour before the trial._ _ _  
><em>

_"Wh-wh-wh-wh-WHAT THE HELL?!"_

_Good luck, 'cos you're gonna need it!_

_"I... I am truly sorry."_

And the corpse smiled upon them all.


End file.
